Clarksburg, California — On a sunny August morning in this farming town, before temperatures soared to 103 degreesU.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra stood outside the small public library.
He came to speak about the Biden administration’s efforts to protect farm workers from extreme heat And forest fire smoketwo emerging public health issues at the forefront of the climate crisis.
“There are still not enough protections for the workers who pick the food that we eat,” Becerra told a group of local reporters and government officials, who outnumbered farmworkers in the audience.
Becerra, whose father worked in the fields, had just visited grape harvesters who protect themselves from the sun by wearing sweaters, long pants and scarves that cover their noses and mouths. Summers are long and intense in Clarksburg, a town of about 300 people along the Sacramento River, which supplies the city with electricity. The California Wine Industry with petite sirah, sauvignon blanc and other grapes harvested by hundreds of farm workers.
“It’s going to be hot today,” he added. “But they’re dressed like it’s winter.”
Vanessa G. Sanchez/KFF Health News
The nation’s top public health official, who is considering a run for governor, has become one of the Biden administration’s leading voices on climate change, focusing attention on low-income and other marginalized workers who are feeling the effects of extreme weather the most. In March, HHS released voluntary safety guidelines and educational materials that farms can use to protect their workers from smoke and heat.
Becerra’s appearance before reporters outside the library was brief and timed to mark Farmworker Appreciation Day, not far from his home in Sacramento, where his wife, a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, continues to work. He promoted the educational materials on the site heat-related illness risks and when temperatures may be too high to work. But he acknowledged there is little he can do because workplace protections are overseen by the Labor Ministry.
“A lot of our jurisdiction doesn’t directly reach these workers,” Becerra acknowledged after meeting with grape pickers. “We owe it to everyone who works to put food on our table to do our best to make sure they’re working in the safest conditions possible.”
His aides issued a press release listing a number of resources, including free occupational health surveys from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; training on the dangers of heat and smoke from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences’ Worker Training Program; and $50 million in grants to 77 health care providers in high-need areas from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat, which is already the leading cause of death. Weather-related killer In the United States, wildfires have been increasing across the country. There is no official count of farmworker deaths from the weather, but heat-related deaths have increased in recent years, from 1,722 in 2022 to about 2,300 last year.
In July, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed workplace heat standard that would require employers to provide breaks, water, and shade or air conditioning to workers exposed to excessive heat, but a final rule likely won’t be adopted for several years. It’s unclear whether it will supersede state regulations.
Five states have implemented heat protection measures for workers who work outdoors or indoors. In California, for example, employers must provide water, cooling areas and breaks for workers when temperatures reach 82°F indoors and 80°F outdoors. The other states are Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington, and Maryland is expected to finalize a heat standard this year.
Although Becerra said states can create their own workplace safety regulations, a federal heat safety standard would provide nationwide protections, requiring states like Florida and Texas — whose Republican governors have signed laws banning heat safety shields — from meeting minimum standards.
Becerra hopes states will take advantage of the programs his health department is offering, even if they are voluntary. Even in California, which has one of the strictest heat protection standards in the country, workers could benefit.
Lizbeth Mastache, who met privately with Becerra beforehand, said the days she spends in the fields picking grapes shrouded in wildfire smoke and extreme heat are not just becoming more frequentbut they also make her sick.
She suffered headaches, fatigue and nausea from the heat, and went to the emergency room after the smoky skies triggered her asthma. She and other farmworkers told Becerra they needed guaranteed sick leave — to take care of themselves when the smoke and heat make them sick — and affordable health insurance.
“I had to work picking grapes during the fires and they didn’t give us masks,” said Mastache, a farm worker for 14 years.
She said some farms have not allowed outreach workers onto their property to educate them on how to prevent heat-related illness.
Vanessa G. Sanchez/KFF Health News
This is a problem when many seasonal workers, who travel to work in different states, are unaware that California requires employers to provide water, breaks and training.
About three years ago, researchers at the University of California-Merced Community and Labor Center found that 15 percent of California farmworkers did not receive minimum rest breaks, and more than 40 percent said their employers had never provided them with a heat-related illness prevention plan. More than a third of farmworkers said they would not file a complaint against their employer, most of them for fear of retaliation.
The California Farm Bureau, which represents about 29,000 farmers, disputes the center’s findings, saying there have been few cases of heat-related illness among its members’ workers. Bryan Little, the bureau’s director of employment policy, said his organization has trained hundreds of farmers and ranchers on how to protect workers from heat-related illness, such as providing water and portable shade spaces in fields for employees to cool off.
“They’re working every day to make sure that we can avoid exposing humans to these risks, to the extent possible,” Little said.
While farmworker advocates praise Becerra for drawing attention to the harmful effects and sometimes fatal impacts Because of the heat and smoke from the wildfires, they worry that federal funds won’t reach the most vulnerable. For example, there’s no guarantee that much of the $50 million earmarked for health care providers will go to health care centers that serve farmworkers, said Amy Liebman, a program manager at the Migrant Clinicians Network who has worked in migrant safety and health for more than two decades.
“We need to make sure that our health centers and our doctors are ready,” Liebman said. “That means changing not only the focus of this issue, but also some of the funding that goes into it.”
As Becerra left his podium, covered with the “Protecting Communities from Extreme Heat” sign, he disappeared into the library and left minutes later for Stockton to champion the next issue — lowering prescription drug prices — with Democratic Rep. Josh Harder, who represents a competitive Central Valley congressional district.
This article was produced by KFF Health Newsa national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is one of the main operational programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism. KFF Health News is the publisher of California Medical Helplinean independent editorial service of California Health Care Foundation.
