STATEMENT on REVELATION of NUMBERS of HEAT-RELATED DEATHS OF WORKERS IN FLORIDA

The Farmworker Association of Florida is issuing this statement in response to newly revealed information about the number of heat-related deaths of workers in Florida.  Thanks to the reporting by the Tampa Bay Times in this article by reporters Hannah Critchfield and Juan Carlos Chavez.  https://www.tampabay.com/investigations/2024/12/14/florida-workers-died-heat-their-deaths-were-kept-authorities/

STATEMENT

The Farmworker Association of Florida has long spoken out about the underreporting of heat-related deaths in Florida and in this country, and we are sobered by the realities uncovered through this investigative reporting. To see the statistics of just how many work-related heat deaths in our state of Florida go unreported is heart breaking and beyond alarming. Our hearts go out to the families that lost their loved ones for such a preventable tragedy.

We call on OSHA to create stricter and stronger regulations that protect workers that are enforceable and hold employers accountable to prevent any more deaths, as well as implementing interagency collaboration so that less cases go unreported. We call on employers to understand just how dangerous heat is and to take time to learn about and implement measures to prevent heat illness and death in an ever-changing climate. And lastly, we call for a change in the systems that endanger workers every day who build the homes and the roads and grow the food we all rely on.  The lawmakers in our state must use this as a wake-up call that more needs to be done to ensure workplace protections for all workers in our state.

We thank the reporters for doing such amazing investigative work to bring these unreported stories of lives lost to light, and we wish to remind all that heat manifests itself in other devastating ways such as kidney failure, cardiovascular and respiratory issues, cognitive impairment, decreased mental health, diminished energy levels and quality of life.