Clarksburg, California — On a sunny August morning in this agricultural town, The temperature reached 103 degreesU.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra stood outside the small public library.
He came to talk about the Biden administration’s efforts to protect farm workers from losses in the agricultural sector. Extreme heat And wildfire smokeTwo emerging public health issues at the forefront climate crisis,
“There still isn’t enough protection for the workers who pick the food we eat,” Becerra told a group of local reporters and government officials, whose audience included a large number of agricultural workers.
Becerra, whose father worked in the fields, recently visited women grape pickers who protect themselves from the sun by wearing sweaters, long pants and handkerchiefs covering their noses and mouths. Summers are long and intense in Clarksburg, a town of about 300 people along the Sacramento River, which supplies its water California’s Wine Industry That includes Petite Sirah, Sauvignon Blanc and other grapes grown by hundreds of farm workers.
“It must be a very hot day. But they are still dressed as if it is winter,” he said.
Vanessa G. Sanchez/KFF Health News
The nation’s top health official, who is mulling a run for governor, has emerged as one of the Biden administration’s leading voices on climate change, focusing on low-income and others. Marginalised workerswho feel the effects of extreme weather the most. In March, HHS released Voluntary Safety Guidelines and educational materials that farms can use to protect their workers from smoke and heat.
Becerra’s appearance before reporters in front of the library was brief and timed to coincide with Farmworkers Appreciation Day, not far from his home in Sacramento, where his wife, a doctor, is an activist. Specializes in high-risk pregnanciesstays at work. He advertised educational material risk of heat-related illnesses and when the temperature is too high to work. But he acknowledged there’s only so much he can do because workplace safety is overseen by the Department of Labor.
“Most of our jurisdictions don’t have direct access to those workers,” Becerra acknowledged after meeting with grape pickers. “We owe it to all of the people who are working to put food on the table for us to make sure they’re working under the safest conditions possible.”
His colleagues distributed a news release listing a number of resources, including free workplace health screenings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; training on heat and smoke hazards from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Worker Training Program; and a plan to award 77 health care providers in high-need areas a total of $100,000. $50 millionFrom the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat, already a major problem worldwide. Weather-related fatalities is fueling wildfires in the U.S., as well as across the country. There is no official count of farm worker deaths caused by weather, but the number of heat-related deaths is have increased In recent years, the number has increased from 1,722 in 2022 to nearly 2,300 last year.
The US Labor Department released a report in July. Proposed workplace heat standards He May need it Employers are required to provide rest, water and shade or air conditioning to employees working in extreme heat, but final rules could be years in the making. It’s unclear whether they will replace state regulations.
Five states have heat protection measures for employees working in outdoor or indoor settings. For example, in California, employers must provide water, cooling areas and breaks when the temperature is 82 degrees indoors and 80 degrees outdoors. Other states are Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington, and Maryland is expected to finalize a heat standard this year.
Becerra said that although states can create their own workplace safety rules, the federal heat safety standard would provide protection across the country, forcing states to create their own standards for workplace safety. Florida and Texas — whose Republican governors have signed laws banning heat safety protection to comply with minimum standards.
Becerra hopes states will take advantage of the programs offered by their health departments, even if they are optional. Even in California, which has one of the country’s strictest heat protection standards, workers can benefit.
Lizbeth Mastache, who has previously met Becerra in person, said the days she spends in the fields picking grapes in wildfire smoke and extreme heat are not only exhausting for her, but also for her family. occurring more frequentlyBut they’re also making him sick.
The heat has caused her to have headaches, fatigue and nausea, and the smoke triggered her asthma, forcing her to go to the emergency room. She and other farmworkers told Becerra they need guaranteed sick leave — so they can take care of themselves when the smoke and heat make them sick — and affordable health insurance.
“I had to work picking grapes during the wildfires, and they didn’t give us masks,” said Mastache, who has been working in the fields for the past 14 years.
Some farms don’t allow outreach workers onto their properties to educate workers about preventing heat-related illnesses, he said.
Vanessa G. Sanchez/KFF Health News
This is a problem because many seasonal workers who travel to different states for work don’t know that employers in California are required to provide water, breaks, and training.
Nearly three years ago, researchers at the University of California-Merced’s Community and Labor Center found that 15% of California farm workers were receiving no pension at all. Minimum rest breakAnd more than 40% said their employer never offered a heat-related illness prevention plan. More than a third of farmworkers said they would not file a report against their employer, most of them out of fear of retaliation.
The California Farm Bureau, which represents About 29,000 farmersdisputes the center’s findings, saying its members have had few cases of heat-related illness among employees. Brian Little, director of employment policy at the bureau, said his organization has trained hundreds of farmers and ranchers on how to protect workers from heat-related illnesses, such as providing water and portable shaded areas in the field for employees to cool off.
“They’re working every day to make sure we protect humankind as much as possible from these risks,” Little said.
While farmworker advocates praise Becerra for calling for action that will address harmful and Sometimes fatal effects Because of the heat and wildfire smoke, they worry that federal dollars won’t reach the most vulnerable. For example, there’s no guarantee that most of the $50 million earmarked for healthcare providers will go to healthcare centers that serve farm workers, said Amy Liebman, a chief program officer at the Migrant Clinicians Network who has worked in migrant safety and health for more than two decades.
“We need to make sure that our health centers are ready and our physicians are ready,” Liebman said. “That means that there needs to be a shift not just in terms of the emphasis on this, but also in terms of some of the funding for this.”
Becerra left his podium at the “Protecting Communities from Extreme Heat” sign and disappeared into the library and minutes later departed for Stockton, where he would discuss his next issue — lower prescription drug prices — with Democratic Rep. Josh Harder, who represents a competitive Central Valley congressional district.
This article was produced by KFF Health NewsA national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the main operating programs KFF — The independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism. KFF Health News is the publisher California HealthlineAn editorially independent service california health care foundation,