{"id":593,"date":"2009-03-18T15:33:59","date_gmt":"2009-03-18T23:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=593"},"modified":"2009-03-18T15:33:59","modified_gmt":"2009-03-18T23:33:59","slug":"ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Water
Water cooler imprinted with heat safety tips. Photo: Sasha Khokha<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was like a pageant of farmers in plaid shirts; nearly a dozen speakers\u00a0 in a Fresno County meeting hall, surrounded by vineyards. Farm leaders offered glowing praise of Cal OSHA\u2019s new guidelines and training seminars<\/a> that will help them comply with the state\u2019s first-in-the nation heat safety rules–passed three years ago.<\/p>\n

The love-fest with Cal-OSHA sets a new tone for agriculture. Growers have traditionally been at odds with the agency tasked with protecting the state\u2019s workers. Farmers have challenged fines and complained about inspections. But despite the regulations,\u00a0 six workers died last summer, including a pregnant teenage farmworker (some of the victims worked in construction or other outdoor jobs).<\/p>\n

Part of the problem was that neither Cal-OSHA inspectors nor farmers had a very clear understanding of how to implement the rules. Is it enough to have an umbrella folded up in the back of a pickup in case it got hot? How hot? How much shade and water is enough?<\/p>\n

Today, Cal-OSHA chief Len Welsh made it clear: when it\u2019s 85 degrees or hotter, shade tents or umbrellas have to go up. And that shade should be no more than a two-and-a-half-minute walk away, according to the rules, which also require enough shade so that one-in-four employees are protected from the sun at any given time.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s still worrisome for leaders of\u00a0 the United Farmworkers Union<\/a>, who were conspicuously absent from the press conference. There are times, they say, when the temperature soars well above 100 or spikes suddenly and everybody should get a break. The UFW says the new guidelines are too vague<\/a>, and Cal-OSHA\u2019s publicity campaign to educate farmers isn\u2019t enough. Union leaders say the state should impose more fines and criminal penalties when workers die in the heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Girding for the summer heat waves ahead, Cal Osha chief Len Welsh made it clear: when it\u2019s 85 degrees or hotter, shade tents or umbrellas have to go up for outdoor workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[17,270,272,581],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-agriculture","tag-health","tag-heat","tag-temperature"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nAg Rules: Heading Off the Heat | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Girding for the summer heat waves ahead, Cal Osha chief Len Welsh made it clear: when it\u2019s 85 degrees or hotter, shade tents or umbrellas have to go up for outdoor workers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-18T23:33:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2009\/03\/igloo2_blog1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sasha Khokha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KQEDSashaKhokha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sasha Khokha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/\",\"name\":\"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat | Climate Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-03-18T23:33:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-03-18T23:33:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/852614210b1e70c4126fa8d5953edeb8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Watch\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/852614210b1e70c4126fa8d5953edeb8\",\"name\":\"Sasha Khokha\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/a618c14ba6eae92537853a5d6fc6c9e5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b5e1541aaeea2aa356aa1fb2a68950?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b5e1541aaeea2aa356aa1fb2a68950?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sasha Khokha\"},\"description\":\"Sasha Khokha is the host of The California Report's\u00a0 weekly magazine program, which takes listeners on sound-rich excursions to meet the people that make the Golden State unique -- through audio documentaries and long-form\u00a0 stories. As\u00a0The California Report's Central Valley Bureau Chief based in Fresno for nearly a dozen years, Sasha brought the lives and concerns of rural Californians to listeners around the state. Her reporting helped expose the hidden price immigrant women janitors and farmworkers may pay to keep their jobs: sexual assault at work. It inspired two new California laws to protect them from sexual harassment.\u00a0 She was a key member of the reporting team for the Frontline film Rape on the Night Shift, which was nominated for two national Emmys. Sasha has also won a national Edward R. Murrow and a national PRNDI award for investigative reporting, as well as multiple prizes from the Society for Professional Journalists. Sasha is a proud alum of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Brown University and a member of the South Asian Journalists Association.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KQEDSashaKhokha\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/author\/sasha-khokha\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat | Climate Watch","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat | Climate Watch","og_description":"Girding for the summer heat waves ahead, Cal Osha chief Len Welsh made it clear: when it\u2019s 85 degrees or hotter, shade tents or umbrellas have to go up for outdoor workers.","og_url":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/","og_site_name":"Climate Watch","article_published_time":"2009-03-18T23:33:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/54\/2009\/03\/igloo2_blog1.jpg"}],"author":"Sasha Khokha","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KQEDSashaKhokha","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sasha Khokha","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/","url":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/","name":"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat | Climate Watch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-03-18T23:33:59+00:00","dateModified":"2009-03-18T23:33:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/852614210b1e70c4126fa8d5953edeb8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/03\/18\/ag-rules-heading-off-the-heat\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ag Rules: Heading Off the Heat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/","name":"Climate Watch","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/852614210b1e70c4126fa8d5953edeb8","name":"Sasha Khokha","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/a618c14ba6eae92537853a5d6fc6c9e5","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b5e1541aaeea2aa356aa1fb2a68950?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b5e1541aaeea2aa356aa1fb2a68950?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sasha Khokha"},"description":"Sasha Khokha is the host of The California Report's\u00a0 weekly magazine program, which takes listeners on sound-rich excursions to meet the people that make the Golden State unique -- through audio documentaries and long-form\u00a0 stories. As\u00a0The California Report's Central Valley Bureau Chief based in Fresno for nearly a dozen years, Sasha brought the lives and concerns of rural Californians to listeners around the state. Her reporting helped expose the hidden price immigrant women janitors and farmworkers may pay to keep their jobs: sexual assault at work. It inspired two new California laws to protect them from sexual harassment.\u00a0 She was a key member of the reporting team for the Frontline film Rape on the Night Shift, which was nominated for two national Emmys. Sasha has also won a national Edward R. Murrow and a national PRNDI award for investigative reporting, as well as multiple prizes from the Society for Professional Journalists. Sasha is a proud alum of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and Brown University and a member of the South Asian Journalists Association.","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/KQEDSashaKhokha"],"url":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/author\/sasha-khokha\/"}]}},"template_type":null,"featured_image_type":null,"is_audio_post":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"affiliates","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/affiliates?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"programs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/programs?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"collections","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collections?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"interests","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/interests?post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}