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As Temperatures Climb, Coalition Calls for Worker Protections
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 July 20, 2018 | HEALTH & SAFETY | As extreme temperatures exacerbated by a warming planet continue to take a deadly toll on laborers across the country, a coalition of worker advocacy groups [including the Teamsters Union] is calling on the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to create the country’s first national standard for heat stress. The coalition filed the petition to Loren Sweatt, the acting assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, on Tuesday. Without a federal heat stress standard, OSHA relies on a general requirement that employers provide workplaces free of hazards. “Employers aren’t going to voluntarily implement these common-sense criteria – access to water, shade and breaks – unless required to and unless there is likely to be a real penalty,” said Shanna Devine, a worker health and safety advocate for Public Citizen… Huffington Post
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