Can your boss force you to work under a searing sun producing unhealthy heat levels or through the caustic smoke caused by any wildfires?

Many workers are so desperate for work that they may forgo workplace safety or remain silent about such issues.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, thousands of people become sick from occupational heat exposure every year; some of those cases end in fatalities.

“Most outdoor fatalities, 50 percent to 70 percent, occur in the first few days of working in warm or hot environments because the body needs to build a tolerance to the heat gradually over time,” OSHA‘s website states. “The process of building tolerance is called heat acclimatization. Lack of acclimatization represents a major risk factor for fatal outcomes.

“Occupational risk factors for heat illness include heavy physical activity, warm or hot environmental conditions, lack of acclimatization, and wearing clothing that holds in body heat.”

Here’s what workers need to know if supervisors try to force you to work through a heat wave or other hazardous weather conditions.

Can my boss force me to work through a heat wave?

There is no specific federal temperature cutoff at which OSHA says employers must send everyone home during a heat wave.

According to OSHA, only California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington have specific heat‑safety standards for workers. Several other states have heat guidance plans, which are not codified into law.

OSHA does identify which professions are most susceptible to heat-related illnesses — outdoor ones include construction (especially roadwork and similar work), roofing, and landscaping; indoor ones include electrical utilities, manufacturing, and warehousing.

So, your boss can make you work in hot weather, but they aren’t allowed to do it without basic protections when conditions are clearly dangerous.

What if the air is full of wildfire smoke?

For most, workers still rely on federal OSHA’s general “don’t expose people to serious hazards” rule — which usually means your boss can keep you on the schedule during smoky or sweltering days. However, your boss is supposed to monitor conditions, reduce your exposure where possible and provide appropriate protective gear.

When to report unsafe work conditions to OSHA

You can file a confidential complaint to OSHA online any time you believe working conditions are unsafe or unhealthful or that your employer is not following OSHA standards.

That includes serious heat or smoke situations where your employer is not providing basics like water, rest, shade or appropriate protective gear, or is ignoring symptoms that are being reported by workers.

OSHA does suggest workers raise the issue internally first to your supervisor, HR department or union, and document what’s happening. If nothing changes, you can then file a complaint.

Editor’s notes: This article first appeared in the Delaware News Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

Also, workers can learn more about Oregon OSHA rules and guidelines concerning heat illness prevention by calling 503-378-3272 or visiting https://osha.oregon.gov/.

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Medford-based general contractor S+B James Construction has graduated from Oregon OSHA‘s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). The program recognizes employers that operate exemplary safety and health management systems.

S+B James Construction was established in 1956. It’s a design-builder, general contractor and construction manager with offices throughout Oregon and California.

Participation in the SHARP program, which is part of Oregon OSHA’s free consultation services, requires a five-year commitment. Employers work with the state agency to identify and correct hazards, improve safety practices, and build lasting systems that protect workers.

S+B James Construction worked with Oregon OSHA safety and health consultants to evaluate workplace hazards, strengthen safety programs, improve employee involvement, and reinforce practices designed to prevent injuries and illnesses on the job, a press release states.

As a SHARP graduate, S+B James Construction joins a select group of Oregon employers recognized for going beyond standard requirements to create and maintain effective workplace safety and health systems. Among the dozens of program graduates are R&H Construction, Willamette Landscape Services (now BrightView Landscapes) of Tualatin, and Marvin Wood Products of Baker City, according to Oregon OSHA’s website.

Employers that achieve SHARP status may also receive an exemption from Oregon OSHA programmed inspections for a designated period, the press release states.

The SHARP program provides Oregon employers with a plan for continuous improvement. Participation involves hazard assessments, written program evaluations, hazard-control recommendations, and hands-on training. Consultations involve no fault, no citations, and no penalties, according to the press release.

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The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) has fined Hillsboro-based Renner Trucking and Excavating $80,804 for repeatedly violating rules that protect workers from trenches caving in on them.

Oregon OSHA issued a citation to the company on May 12 following an inspection that found two employees working in a trench with no protective system in place. The trench – about 3 feet wide by 12 feet long and more than 5 feet deep – was part of a home construction project in Beaverton, according to the agency.

Altogether, Oregon OSHA cited Renner Trucking and Excavating for three violations of the Oregon Safe Employment Act. Those violations included failure to provide a sufficient protective system to protect employees from a trench collapse, a first-repeat violation with a penalty of $39,696; failure to ensure a competent person was available to identify and address existing and predictable trench hazards, a first-repeat violation with a penalty of $39,696; and failure to provide adequate protection for employees from loose rock or soil potentially falling from the face of the trench onto their heads, a serious violation with a penalty of $1,412.

The total penalty issued to the company included a standard reduction based on the size of the company. Employers have 30 calendar days after receiving a citation to file an appeal.

Renner Trucking and Excavating Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Oregon OSHA has fined Hillsboro contractor Arm & Hammer Construction $25,870 for multiple violations of workplace safety rules, including repeated failures to protect workers from fall hazards.

The citation against the company resulted from an inspection conducted under Oregon OSHA‘s emphasis program on fall hazards in construction. The prevention-based program includes direction to inspectors to act based on observations while in the field.

The inspection of Arm & Hammer Construction centered on a Portland jobsite where a multistory residential building was under construction. Oregon OSHA’s inspection found multiple employees working on second-floor decking exposed to uncontrolled falls – as high as 10 feet – to a lower level.

It was the fourth time over the past two years, according to Oregon OSHA, that the company violated a rule that requires employers to implement fall protection systems at jobsites when employees are exposed to a hazard of falling 6 feet or more to a lower level.

Oregon OSHA’s citation against Arm & Hammer Construction included the following violations: failure to ensure that two fiberglass extension ladders were free from structural defects when used by employees to work on the second-floor decking ($535 penalty); failure to ensure employees used eye or face protection while operating pneumatic nail guns ($185 penalty); a repeat violation of failure to ensure that ladders, when used by employees to access the second-floor decking, had at least 3 feet of side rail extended past the upper landing ($375 penalty); a fourth repeat violation of failure to ensure that a fall protection system was provided and implemented when employees were exposed to a hazard of falling 6 feet or more to a lower level ($24,375 penalty); a repeat violation of failure to have a written certification record to verify that each employee assigned to work at heights greater than 6 feet was trained to recognize the hazards of falling and understand the procedures to follow to minimize those hazards ($200 penalty); and a repeat violation of failure to document and maintain a written record of safety meetings – including the dates of those meetings – during which hazards were identified and discussed ($200 penalty).

The total penalty issued against Arm & Hammer Construction included a standard penalty reduction based on the company’s small size. Under Oregon OSHA’s rules, penalties multiply when employers commit repeat offenses.

Employers have 30 calendar days after receiving a citation to file an appeal. Arm & Hammer Construction indicated that it plans to appeal.

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The Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Administration will hold public hearings about the new excessive heat and wildfire smoke rules currently proposed.

At the start of the month, OSHA released the final draft rules on the excessive heat and wildfire smoke. The rules are now within the public comment period that will close on March 18.

Public hearing dates are:

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During the upcoming hearings, a coalition that includes the Oregon AFL-CIO, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, The Oregon Environmental Council, Northwest Workers’ Justice Project, and Climate Jobs PDX will testify on the changes they want to see made to the final sets of rules.

Among removing loopholes in the rules, the coalition would like to set the trigger for the respirator requirement at an Air Quality Index of 201 instead 250, as well as the removal for the  exemptions when the work is considered “light.” It would also like to close a loophole for protecting workers from excessive heat in farmworker housing so that all farmworkers are well protected.

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Oregon OHSA has adopted emergency rules to protect workers against wildfire smoke and heat dangers in employer-provided housing.

“These rules underscore our ongoing work to bolster Oregon’s ability to protect workers from extraordinary hazards that have been exacerbated by climate change,” stated Andrew Stolfi, director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, which includes Oregon OSHA. “Wildfire smoke and extreme heat continue to pose threats to our communities. Those threats are not going away. And that is why we must act.”

The new rules require that employers make an effort, whenever feasible, to change work schedules or relocate outdoor workers when air quality levels reach 201, which is considered very unhealthy. If employees will be exposed to air levels above 201, employers must supply facepiece respirators approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (such as N95 respirators) and ensure workers wear them.

Beginning Aug. 16, employers must ensure workers exposed to air pollution at level AQI 101, considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, or above have been trained in the potential health effects of wildfire smoke, interpreting an air quality monitoring device and in emergency response procedures.

Both rules will take effect on Aug. 9 and remain in effect for 180 days.

Employers will also be required to block windows to keep housing units cool and offer fans at no cost when temperatures inside housing units exceed 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

The new rules also follow Oregon OHSA’s July 8 adoption of emergency requirements to prevent heat illness in outdoor and indoor workplaces.

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Oregon OSHA recently fined Lowe’s Companies Inc. more than $35,000 for failing to protect workers at two stores from the COVID-19 virus.

The Lowe’s stores in Albany (on Southeast Ninth Avenue) and Redmond (on Southwest Canal Boulevard) were cited for potentially exposing employees to the coronavirus disease by allowing customers inside to not wear any form of mask or face covering, according to Oregon OHSA.

The inspections determined that supervisors at the stores were “fully aware” of the requirement to ensure customers use facial coverings and “yet intentionally decided against carrying out their responsibilities,” the agency stated.

“It is not enough to leave the protection of employees in the hands of cooperative customers,” stated Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA. “As most employers recognize, they must take appropriate steps to ensure that the rules in place are actually followed. When an employer is not prepared to take such steps, we can and will use our enforcement tools to address the issue.”

After both stores received multiple complaints, an inspection occurred and recorded three violations: a $17,500 penalty for each store for disregarding the Oregon Health Authority requirement to ensure customers inside the buildings wear facial coverings and a $600 fine for the Redmond store because it did not develop and implement both a risk assessment to identify potential employee exposure to the virus and an infection control plan.

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Transformation of an industry’s culture is a herculean task.

But Andersen Construction CEO Joel Andersen believes the construction industry can become one that rejects racism and discrimination, even if it takes a generation to do so fully. In Portland, that laborious process began with the launch of “Safe from Hate” – a contractor-led initiative developed in response to an incident on an Andersen Construction jobsite in which a rope noose was found hanging conspicuously.

Almost three weeks passed before Andersen Construction executives even became aware of the incident after it was reported. But then Andersen and others were spurred to seriously tackle the racism on jobsites that has been all too prevalent for far too long.

“We realize we have to do something to help try and transform our industry,” Andersen said. “If we keep doing what we’re doing, not only is nothing going to change – there is a good chance it gets worse.”

After the Metropolitan Alliance for Workforce Equity (MAWE), Oregon Tradeswomen, the National Association of Minority Contractors’ Oregon chapter (NAMC), the Urban League of Portland and other groups called for the contractor to explain what happened, Andersen realized there was an opportunity to do more than that.

“Everyone was hurt and frustrated, and rightfully so,” Andersen said. “But they were like, ‘Yes, we are absolutely willing to do something to make it better.”

A rapid response

The Safe from Hate campaign quickly attracted a wide variety of groups, including those involved in advocacy, the public sector, trade unions, designers and of course contractors and subcontractors. These groups have continued to meet for several months and reached agreement on four central pillars: 1, zero tolerance for discrimination; 2, education; 3, recruitment; and 4, advancement.

“They documented their commitment as owners, and all of this has really built momentum,” said Kelly Haines, a senior project manager with Worksystems and a MAWE representative. “We met every few weeks from that incident and we coauthored the pledge. From there, we know that’s just words on paper. So, to hold people true to that commitment, that’s what the alliance is meant to be – the implementation and the accountability.”

Then participants realized that such a large group needed to become smaller ones in order to foster more efficient communication. A steering committee was formed to oversee subcommittees comprised of apprentices, public owners, a labor caucus, subcontractors, trade associations, contractors, pre-apprenticeship training programs, public agencies and community-based organizations. The steering committee held its first meeting Feb. 4 and will continue on a monthly basis.

In addition, an executive council comprised of labor representatives will oversee the steering committee. This will also help guide future training and anti-discrimination efforts on the labor side.

“Everyone felt that those most impacted by jobsite culture needed to be leaders in that work,” Haines said. “So, everyone is essentially reporting back to that council. That’s the goal – to be a friendly competition, where everyone comes together and shares what they’re doing and coordinating.”

The Associated General Contractors‘ Oregon-Columbia chapter is serving alongside NAMC Oregon as a shepherd of sorts, providing guidance to help advance the entire process.

“The generals (contractors) … want to do the work individually to their companies, but they are looking at how you pull together as a structure, and that’s why they’re looking to us,” AGC Executive Director Mike Salsgiver said.

But there are no illusions that the work will be easy.

“I think even when you start to really think about what got us here, it was the noose,” said Nate McCoy, executive director of NAMC Oregon. “But what’s a bigger issue is the bias on the jobsites and who should be here and who shouldn’t.”

Building momentum

Jobsite racism affects Latinos as much as any other minority group. Further, they now represent around 30 percent of the construction workforce – a proportion that is growing.

“It’s always there,” said Leanna Petrone, executive director of trade association LatinoBuilt. “Discrimination and hateful acts against our community have been a huge barrier for Latinos.”

Incidents such as the noose are just the tip of the iceberg, Petrone said.

“There’s been a lot through the years, and it’s been this way as long as I can remember,” she said. “My father worked in trades, and he worked in a field, and it’s always been a segregated work environment. The white males tend to stick with their own kind. The women tend to stick with their own. The Latinos, generally men, stick with their own kind. They’re not really included.”

Safe from Hate is by no means the first attempt to address racism in the industry, McCoy said. The difference now is that participation is widespread.

“There have been many decades of conversation around this subject,” he said. “It’s just now the larger GCs are diving into it, which is totally what we want; we want to operate together.”

Haines, Oregon Tradeswomen Executive Director Kelly Kupcak and other industry figures have been working for some time to also implement Rise Up, Green Dot and other programs that aim to eliminate harassment and discrimination on jobsites. Safe from Hate simply builds upon those efforts, said Afton Walsh, community outreach director for Walsh Construction.

“This was in the works even before Safe from Hate,” she said. “So, to say this all started in June is wrong. There has been a lot of groundwork and a lot of work that the community has been doing for a long time.”

This process informed how Safe from Hate took shape, Walsh added.

“We spent months working on the language to make sure it was broad,” she said. “Each company has ways to implement these broader principles. We wanted everyone to join in the journey wherever they are, so it works for nonunion, union, large or small contractors. Everyone can use these as guiding principles to find where they fit in.”

Essentially safety

Kupcak said she and others have been in communication with the Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries about harassment on jobsites for some time. She hopes to eventually see enactment of regulations that treat discrimination as a formal health and safety issue enforceable by Oregon Occupational Safety and Health.

“We have shifted the way we approach it as an intervention,” she said. “OSHA convened a task force a couple of years ago about harassment, and we are part of that conversation. Not only do we lose really good people – they love their jobs; they just don’t want to deal with it day after day – but people have died.”

A quarter of a century ago, safety began to become an everyday focus for contractors and clients, Andersen said. It was a slow process, but one aided by acknowledgment that it benefited the entire industry. The effort to eradicate racism and discrimination is no different, he said.

“That was a vernacular that was easily understood; it’s part of the everyday DNA of every jobsite,” he said. “The idea to build upon that with the campaign of Safe from Hate was to say let’s just include that in the definition of safety.”

There is no question that discrimination in construction is fundamentally a matter of health and safety, according to parties involved in the Safe from Hate effort.

“It is absolutely a safety issue,” said Michael Burch, the community relations and outreach representative for the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents over 28,000 union carpenters in Oregon, Washington and four other states. “But it goes deeper than that.”

Beneath the surface

A crackdown on graffiti and casual use of racist language is just a start, Burch said. A broader effort must be made to recruit and retain people of color and women in the trades, he added.

“Instead of hiring folks and letting them languish out there, (firms’ leaders) need to be intentional about the leadership paths they put them on,” he said. “There’s a problem with porta potties and lunchrooms, but that’s low-hanging fruit, and we can do that. It’s a problem when you walk onto a construction site and there are 100 workers and they are all white males.”

Changing that is not only the right thing to do, Burch added, but also good for business. The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters implemented positive jobsite culture training some time ago, and Safe from Hate fits neatly within those parameters. The goal is to strengthen the workforce and increase the flow of skilled labor to contractors and jobsites.

“We talked to the apprentices about whether or not they would go back to work tomorrow and asked if they would enjoy it, and most said no, they go for the paycheck,” Burch said. “We spent 18 months developing this curriculum. It’s in the safety class, which all apprentices take, and it’s a training that goes to jobsites.”

The carpenters’ union has even made this training mandatory at its jobsites. Some members have participated multiple times.

“It works for a while, but it’s a marathon, because our work is transient,” Burch said. “They are on the site when the training happens; (then) their work ends and they are off to other areas, and it’s right back to business as usual. So, you have to continue to water those seeds that you planted.”

History shows organized labor is strongest, Burch added, when everyone – “Black, brown, BIPOC folks” – comes together.

“It keeps being pointed out that the industry is weaker because of the divisions, and we’ve done quite a bit of work in that area,” he said.

Optimism for change

In the end, this is only a start to what promises to be a long and potentially frustrating process. But in Portland, at least, a tipping point may have finally been reached.

“We are just beginning, but, man, does it feel exciting to be where we are,” Andersen said. “I say that with this mixture of ‘Here I am, a white guy pumped about what we’re doing.’ But the part that sickens me is, for so many of our peers in the industry and those who have found themselves not welcome, this has been their life’s existence. And we haven’t done enough.”

Open acknowledgment of the problem is encouraging, McCoy said.

“It’s a marathon and not a sprint, and some may not be as equipped or have the systems in place to wrestle with this reality that there is racism and discrimination, big time,” he said. “This is not the first attempt at this, but typically we don’t have the top dogs using their time in the room and saying, ‘It starts with us.’ Now we’ve got that commitment, and it’s a beautiful thing.”

Already, there are signs of progress. Haines noted that several months after the noose was discovered at the Andersen Construction jobsite, a similar incident occurred at a Hoffman Construction jobsite. This time, there was a much more serious response. It was treated like a crime scene, she said, and the person found responsible was removed from the project immediately and disciplined.

“Part of the work is we don’t want to sweep it under the rug, and we found that Hoffman reacted night and day differently than Andersen,” she said. “They shut the site down, called the police, and we have tried to share that example. It was a painter, and the union wrote a letter right away and said they won’t defend members who engaged in this behavior. It was a coordinated effort and transparent.”

That’s why Petrone and others are optimistic.

“I’m not sure it will take 30 years to really shift the way we think of our current jobsite culture here,” she said. “I think it can be done. It might take a Coca-Cola ad, but we’ve already seen awareness and change come in this short period of time.”

After all, it’s about working for a better industry.

“It can’t just take people that look like us,” said Twauna Hennessee, who will soon take over Burch’s position at the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters. “We need everyone not being afraid to speak truth and putting action behind what we hear.”

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Oregon OSHA recently fined a Sherwood-based contractor $9,035 for multiple job safety violations, including willful exposure of workers to fall hazards.

During a September 2020 site inspection, Ridgeline Roofing & Construction owner Matthew Bese was found performing roofing work on a house in Tigard alongside several employees with no fall protection and exposure to a fall of at least nine feet.

“I think it’s extortion,” Bese said. “I think the fine is one thing, but sending someone out of business is another.”

Bese claimed he was unable to pay the fine and had to close his business. He has 30 years of roofing experience and 15 as a contractor, he said. He is now working as a home inspector, he added.

In his interview with OSHA, Bese stated he does not require his employees to work with fall protection for roofing jobs with a low pitch. However, he said he recognized the importance of the 6-foot trigger-height requirement. He also said it would take longer to finish the job if they used fall protection.

“On a 4:12 pitch, you shouldn’t have to wear them; you’re well aware of your surroundings,” Bese said. “If you can’t walk on a 4:12 pitch, then you shouldn’t be in the roofing business.”

Falls are the leading cause of death in the construction industry, according to Oregon OSHA.

“There is absolutely no good reason to ignore fall protection requirements that have, time and again, been proven to protect workers,” stated Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA. “To make excuses is an abdication of responsibility that only courts disaster.”

Oregon OSHA cited Bese for the following violations and proposed penalties:

• an $8,800 penalty for knowingly not providing fall protection systems to employees where they were exposed to falling 6 feet or more to a lower level;
• a $135 penalty for not ensuring that the portable ladder used to reach and leave the roof extended at least 3 feet above the landing where work was being done;
• failure to prepare a written certification showing employees were properly trained to use fall protection systems; and
• failure to document, make available and maintain for three years a record of each safety meeting addressing hazards related to tools, equipment, work environment and unsafe work practices.

It is ridiculous, Bese said, for one person to receive the bulk of the fine.

“They’re acting like I was holding a gun to (workers’) head(s),” he said. “No, they willfully climbed the ladder.”

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Oregon OSHA recently fined a general contractor $38,390 for committing several safety violations, including a repeat offense of failure to provide sufficient fall protection for workers.

After a confidential complaint was filed against Mid Oregon Builders LLC of Roseburg, an inspection took place at construction sites in Sutherlin, Winston and Roseburg. Company employees and a supervisor were interviewed, and record-keeping practices were reviewed.

Roofing work by Mid Oregon Builders at a site in Sutherlin reportedly exposed workers in danger of potentially falling at least 13 feet – without use of personal fall arrest or guardrail systems. This was the company’s fourth violation of fall protection rules since October 2018, according to Oregon OSHA. That drew a $36,000 fine from the state agency.

“Our fall protection requirements are designed to prevent serious injury or death, and they have proven effective at protecting workers,” Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA, stated in a press release. “Repeatedly failing to take them seriously demonstrates a lack of responsibility and serves only one purpose – to further put lives at risk.”

The inspection found other violations that generated fines totaling $2,390. They were: failure to ensure employees were trained by a competent person qualified in use and operation of fall protection systems, failure to take all reasonable steps to provide adequate fall protection and ensure employees use protective systems while working on elevated surfaces, failure to provide copies of injury and illness records for 2019 in a timely manner, and failure to enter each recordable injury or illness on proper documents in a timely manner for 2018 and 2019.

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