Heat Can Be Brutal To Farm Workers

On the drive into work this morning, the radio announcer warned of dangerously hot temperatures across much of NC today with heat indexes as high as 110.  For those of us who have the privilege of working in air conditioned spaces, this kind of heat poses little threat.  But for those who do some of the hardest work in the state, providing food for our tables and profits for our farms, this kind of heat can be deadly.  This story from NBC-17 explains:

Long stretches of heat can be deadly to farm workers. 

Three agricultural workers in North Carolina died from heat stress in 2006. 

None have died since then, according to the North Carolina Department of Labor. The department attributes it to extensive educational efforts, said Regina Cullen, Chief of the Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau at the Department of Labor.

"We do a heck of a lot of educating. And say, ‘this is the best way.' Nobody wants to have an accident. Nobody wants to have a fatality on their farm," Cullen said.

The department doesn't track heat illnesses. But the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs has received reports of symptoms of heat illnesses among farm workers this summer; and of workers without enough water, shade, or breaks.

"We have seen families that are sleeping under trailers to escape heat. We have seen slurred speech and slurred vision in a lot of the youth that are out there working in the fields long days," said Emily Drakage, the North Carolina Regional Coordinator for the Association's Children in the Fields Campaign.

The Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs is a member of FAN.

Comments

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Heat is one of the problem of our farmers. it is really hard to work under the heat of the raging sun.