As OSHA weighs better heat protections, Michigan activists stand ready to support state efforts

As the sun beat down on downtown Lansing Monday morning, activists from multiple labor and environmental groups gathered outside the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s office to raise awareness on the state of heat protections for Michigan workers and advocate for measures to prevent further deaths from heat exhaustion.
Over the next three weeks the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is set to hold informal public hearings on a proposed rule to require employers to create a plan to evaluate and control heat hazards in their workplace, and clarify their obligations as well as the steps needed to protect employees from hazardous heat.
Frank Houston, senior state policy manager for Michigan at the BlueGreen Alliance said that while Michigan’s own Occupational Safety and Health Office is great and does try to prioritize workers, there are limitations.
Although employers generally have protections and plans in place for workers to mitigate heat stress and other illnesses-tied to heat, not all employers have good plans in place because they’re not required, Houston said. This places a number of workers at risk, he said, pointing to migrant workers, warehouse workers and farm workers as workers impacted by the lack of requirements.

Christina Hayes, a paid leave organizer with Mothering Justice, which advocates for policies in support of Black mothers, noted her experience working for an airline in the summer.
“You could only imagine the levels of heat that gets inside of an airplane where you’re loading luggages at: Very hot,” Hayes said. “Airlines offer water breaks and whatnot, so they can ride around with popsicles for employees, things like that. But the heat affects everyone, all Michigan workers and mothers are included in that bunch of workers.”
As the federal government hears testimony in support of increased heat protections, members of the “Heat Justice Now” Coalition hope that OSHA will put good national standards in place, Houston said. If not, members are ready to head back to the state administration to push for greater protections.
Derek Dobies, chief of staff for the Michigan AFL-CIO noted that farm workers have been strategically excluded from most labor laws, with the union looking to raise awareness of the threats these workers face.
“We have individuals that are literally feeding our state, feeding our communities, you know, harvesting those crops that are out there, potentially breathing in pesticides, working in extreme heat. And not only do our laws not protect those individuals from heat, but those individuals can’t even collectively bargain for those provisions in a union contract,” Dobies noted.
While having standards in place at the federal level would be great, Dobies said pursuing those protections at the state level may be an easier route, noting that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration and key lawmakers in the State House and Senate had worked to advance a number of policies to support workers rights.
“Michigan is one of the top agricultural producers in the country, so we have a role to play in helping to advance heat stress policy to extend collective bargaining for farm workers and so on,” Dobies said.
