Temperatures in southwest Idaho have pushed triple digits several days so far this summer, as heat waves have rolled through almost every region of the country and are expected to continue.
People who work outdoors are some of the most vulnerable to heat-related illness. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said this health risk is exacerbated by climate change, and it found workplace deaths due to heat – both outdoors and indoors – have doubled since the early 1990s.
Just five states, including Oregon and Washington, have some form of heat protections for workers like rest breaks and access to cold water. Idaho is not one of them. OSHA is considering a national heat standard, but it’s still several years away.
A coalition of Idaho nonprofits is organizing a heat and smoke drive for a third year to buy supplies that help farmworkers stay safe in the heat and wildfire smoke. Over the past two years, the Idaho Immigrant Resource Alliance has raised $35,000 to buy water, electrolyte drinks, cooling clothing and other gear.
Alejandra Hernandez is a co-founder of the social media page Latinx Farmworkers of Southern Idaho and helps distribute the supplies from the campaign.
“Ideally it would be the government that would provide all of these things,” she said. “But we know that legislation is not being passed yet and there’s just not much help.”
OSHA urges employers to protect workers from heat-related illness. In Idaho, Hernandez said, anecdotally, the amount of breaks or access to shade varies farm to farm.
One farmworker she met through the campaign last year told her the workers on that farm are only able to take all their breaks when their supervisor isn’t around. On the other hand, she watches workers taking frequent breaks at a farm near where she lives in Mountain Home.
“I see that they come and go, come and go, multiple times a day,” she said.
Next week Hernandez plans on handing out supplies to around 50 farmworkers with some funds from the Idaho Immigrant Resources Alliance campaign.
She said even little things like sunscreen can help people feel less overwhelmed in the heat.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen
Copyright 2023 Boise State Public Radio
