As warehouse heat rises, politicians slow to act
On October 7th, the Los Angeles Times published an investigative report on dangerous conditions in Southern California warehouses caused by excessive heat. The article details how increasing temperatures and putting the health and safety of workers at risk. The LA Times interviewed over two dozen warehouse workers including ILWU Local 26 members who work at the Rite Aid distribution warehouse in Lancaster, CA.
Industry growth in high-heat areas
Demand for warehouses, distribution centers, and workers to staff them are rising—as are temperatures, especially in California’s Inland Empire and Central Valley where new warehouses are being developed. According to the LA Times report, since 2010 more than 400 new ware[1]houses, each over 100,000 square feet, have been built in the Inland Empire, where summertime temperatures can regularly exceed 100 degrees. About 10% of all warehouses in the United States are located in this part of Southern California. New warehouses are also being developed in high[1]heat areas of Riverside County and along the edge of the Mojave Desert where the Rite Aid distribution center is located. Low-wage workers, many of whom are Black and Latino are facing increased safety risks working in the hottest parts of California in an industry with few safety protections and a lack of government oversight. Local and state politicians have shown little interest in seriously addressing this crisis.
Heat-related risks
A recent study from researchers at UCLA and Stanford University found that indoor workers in California are more likely to be injured on the job when temperatures exceed 90 degrees. The dangers of working in high heat are not just limited to heat-related illness. Working in high temperatures can cause excessive fatigue and exhaustion which can lead to higher rates of accidents and injuries. The report also found that work injuries linked to extreme heat are undercounted and the health impact on workers is more widespread than previously known. Temperatures inside the Rite Aid distribution center have climbed to 90 degrees and higher and stay there for hours, according to the LA Times report based on worker interviews e company’s own 2020 temperature records.
Contract protections outdated
In 2011, following the death of a Local 26 member, ILWU Local 26 became the first union in the United States to negotiate indoor heat controls at Rite Aid. Only two other unions in the country have negotiated indoor heat related provisions since. A decade later, workers at the huge facility say the protective measures they fought for are insufficient for the record-breaking heatwaves in the Mojave Desert that have become prevalent in recent years.
“The heatwaves are getting more intense, and the hottest times are of the year are lasting longer because of climate change,” said Local 26 President Luisa Gratz. “Workers at the Rite Aid distribution center pull products all day long based on production metrics set by the employer. Their bodies are constantly generating heat. Working in these warehouses without air circulation and high levels of humidity is exhausting and can be debilitating.”
Under the contract, supervisors are required to give workers a five-minute break when temperatures reach 90 degrees. They get a 10-minute break when it hits 100 degrees. If the temperature reaches 101 degrees, workers are sent home. Workers are also provided water by the employer every 30 minutes, and every 15 minutes in 100-degree heat. The union stewards carry their own digital heat monitors to keep managers honest, but the breaks don’t offer much relief.
“These provisions are outdated given the impacts of climate change and no longer do enough to control heat on warehouse workers,” Gratz said.
Heat exhaustion
According to the LA Times report, “Rite Aid workers said at least three employees fell ill with heat exhaustion in June [2021] when an unusually severe heatwave descended on South[1]ern California. Two became so dehydrated that they needed IV bags of saline solution to replenish lost fluids.”
Gratz said that the company has responded to complaints about the heat by installing a few more fans to increase air circulation, but the measures have done little to mitigate the problem in the massive warehouse. “Cal-Osha was called but no changes were made. We were told there were no heat standards or regulations to be enforced,” said Gratz.
“Although fans do help in some areas, they can also make it worse at times because they are just blowing hot air at workers who are already overheating which increases the risk of heat-related illness,” Gratz said.
Air conditioning for chocolate
Workers said that the only air conditioning in the warehouse is the room to sort bags of chocolate bars before they’re trucked to drugstores.
Local 26 member Debbie Fontaine, who has worked in the distribution center for 21 years said when she was inter[1]viewed by the LA Times that supervisors walk employees to the chocolate room when they begin to show signs of heat exhaustion.
“We have this refrigerated room to keep the chocolate from melting while people are practically dropping off from the heat,” Fontaine said.
Long fight for a heat standard
Gratz has been working with legislators in Sacramento trying to get indoor heat standards passed for decades, but businesses and the Chamber of Commerce fought hard to prevent these safety standards from being enacted. In 2005, California finally became the first—and only state—to adopt a heat illness prevention standard to protect outdoor workers. “We were told we could have a heat standard to protect outdoor workers or indoor workers, but not both,” Gratz said.
The state’s outdoor heat standard requires employers to provide workers with water, shade, rest breaks, and training. Additional requirements apply when the outdoor temperature exceeds 95 degrees. In 2016, the legislature finally passed SB 1167, which established regulations to prevent heat illness for indoor workers and was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown.
SB 1167 directed Cal-OSHA to draft and pro[1]pose heat illness and injury prevention standards for indoor worksites by January 1, 2019. Gratz said that nearly six years after the passage of SB 1167, the standards are weak, and limits are still under review. “The process is bogged down in politics by people who work in air[1]conditioned buildings,” Gratz said.
Until the regulations are approved, Cal-OSHA inspectors have few enforcement tools available. Without clear rules stating the temperature at which heat is hazardous, businesses face no threat of enforcement action and even if the state eventually enacts an indoor heat standard, it’s not clear that an underfunded and understaffed Cal-OSHA will have the capacity to effectively enforce the guidelines.
“Politicians cannot continue to drag their feet on this issue,” Gratz said. “It’s the working-class that pay the highest cost from climate change, and it is well past time to act.”