Commitment to heat safety already exists

COMMENTARY
From Rich Matteis, administrator of the California Farm Bureau Federation:

Of all the sectors in the California economy, agriculture has been the most proactive in addressing the safety of employees who work outside on hot days.

Farmers, ranchers, farm employees, farm labor contractors, safety specialists, farm organizations and state regulators have accepted responsibility and conducted comprehensive, coordinated efforts to make sure people who work on the farm know what to do to prevent heat illness:

-- Agricultural leaders stepped forward to work with Cal/OSHA in developing the first-in-the-nation heat illness regulations in 2005; in establishing permanent regulations in 2006; and in strengthening the regulations in 2010. The regulations assure adequate water, shade, rest breaks, training and emergency preparation for people who work outside in hot weather.
-- In the past four years, more than 13,000 farmers, supervisors, farm labor contractors and farm employees have been trained in heat safety at seminars organized by California farm groups, safety organizations and workers' compensation insurance carriers. Those people, in turn, have trained hundreds of thousands of farm employees each year. This represents a sustained effort, with workshops already held this year and more scheduled.

Read more in AgAlert, which provided the photo.

The protection of farmworkers from the heat is itself a red-hot issue of late, because there's a bill in the Legislature that would impose what the Farm Bureau considers to be onerous new regulations on farms.

For my story on this issue, check CapitalPress.com soon.