Debbie Berkowitz, Practitioner Fellow at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the new Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) - Division of Labor and Industry standard for heat safety protections for workers.
Berkowitz has been advocating for workers' safety for over 40 years. She spent 20 years with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the AFL-CIO, helping improve workplace safety standards. Berkowitz then served as the Senior Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff for OSHA during the Obama Administration.
Recently, Maryland passed a requirement that OSHA in Maryland issue a statewide standard for worker heat safety protections. Berkowitz also provided the background information behind the past efforts to establish heat protections for workers. The new standards come after a sanitation worker passed away earlier this year due to working in a high temperature environment.
According to Berkowitz the new heat protections are common sense, with a higher focus on recognizing the signs of heat stress. She explained that companies will be required to provide outdoor workers with shaded areas and water for breaks. Many cases where outdoor workers die due to high temperatures occur on or close to the worker’s first day on the job, Berkowitz said. The standards will also require an acclimation period for new outdoor workers so they can get used to working in higher temperatures.
For more from Berkowitz and heat protections for workers, listen to the show above.