Miami-Dade commissioners to vote on worker heat protections next month

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A newly-proposed heat ordinance in Miami-Dade County, which would provide county-level protections for outdoor workers in extreme heat, squeaked out of a county community health committee on Monday.

That came after members of the agricultural and construction industries flagged a range of issues, to include bureaucratic redundancy given existing federal safety regulations.

The advocacy group WeCount!, with support from the union representing Jackson Health System workers, hosted a rally to support the proposed heat ordinance that would provide outdoor worker protections to include 10-minute shaded water breaks every two hours on days when the heat index hits 90 degrees.

“We would be the first county in the nation, if this passes, with this type of ordinance to protect outdoor workers,” said nurse Barbara “Vicki” Gonzalez.

After passing on its first reading in July, the proposed ordinance made a stop in a county health committee, where commissioners heard from those in support and from members of the construction and agricultural industry, to include small business owners, asking for a “no” vote or deferral.

“Thousands of outdoor workers and only agricultural and construction are being targeted and no one was consulted or asked for feedback,” said Arianna Cabrera De Ona, Senior Vice President at Costa Farms.

Sam Accursio, of the family-run Sam Accursio and Sons, told Local 10 News he supports enforcement action against bad actors in the agricultural industry and doesn’t understand why the ordinance doesn’t include other industry sectors with outdoor workers.

“Why do we need to put more bureaucracy over land owners and business owners,” he asked. “But I am a firm believer that if you are breaking the law, we need to take care of you.”

Accursio said he believes a county-level ordinance is unnecessary when worker protections already exist under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“I would love to know who these farms are (the ones WeCount! claims are not providing workers with rest, water and shade),” he said. “I am on three boards on the state, one of them is the Florida Farm Bureau labor board. We advise the state senators on what we see down here. I am on the Dade County Farm Bureau. I am vice chair on the Agriculture Practices Board, where we advise the county commissioners...I would want to know who these bad apples are so we can bring them to justice for the people, not take a blanket and put over every person is doing the wrong thing. We are doing the right thing. We have been in business since 1948. I think if we were doing the wrong thing we would have no employees.

“It is truly unnecessary because we are already governed by the government with WPS training, we have worker protection standards, we have food safety, OSHA, and daily we meet, we congregate every morning and we discuss what we are doing, and on those days where we know it is going to be dangerous, we explain it, we talk.”

In fact, OSHA posted a link to worker protections at the intersection of extreme heat on Monday morning on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

According to OSHA’s website, “It’s the law! Employers have a duty to protect workers against heat…workers can file a confidential complaint with OSHA if they believe their working conditions are unsafe or unhealthy or if they think their employer is not following OSHA standards.”

During the public comment period, some supporters of the proposed county ordinance told commissioners while OSHA has protections for workers, it has not yet published an official heat standard on preventing heat illness for outdoor workers.

Miami-Dade District 9 Commissioner Kionne McGhee, who said he picked beans as a child and grew up on construction sites, co-sponsored the heat ordinance.

“The best protection for the people have always come from the local government,” McGhee said. “Right now we are 95% there. All the parties are going to meet up this Friday to hash out whatever differences they may have, and they are going to bring us a product that I believe will pass muster.”

The motion to move forward to the full board in October passed 4-1 by committee members. Not voting for it was Rene Garcia, Miami-Dade’s District 13 commissioner, who said with a father in the construction industry, he has a sense of how that industry works and is particularly concerned with the ordinance’s broad liability language.

“I think this legislation or county ordinance needs to be better flushed out,” Garcia said. “There is no doubt that we are seeing an increase in temperatures, in heat, there is no doubt that we need to help our workers that are in the field, but it is important that if we believe in the policy, that the policy should be across the board. We should not be picking one industry or another. Right now, one of the issues we see with this legislation is just the agriculture community and the construction community, but not anyone else who is working outdoors.”

He is also concerned with the ordinance’s broad language pertaining to liability.

“There are also issues and concerns over the due process part of the bill, as well as the liability,” Garcia said. “Right now the liability is a big spectrum, and I think we need to make sure that we narrow that spectrum, narrow that liability, for cause.

“The next step is that the county commission will take this matter up, and based on the sponsor, we will flush out some of these issues and hopefully we can flush out those issues at the county commission where I can get to a yes.”

As for what version of the ordinance will be read for the full county commission, McGhee said, “I don’t know exactly what version they are going to bring me because I am leaving it up to the stakeholders to bring me the version.

“Whatever version they bring back, it better have protection for heat, water opportunities, and it better have shade and it better have liability and enforcement inside of that item, so whatever they bring back to me, I am going to file that.”

STATEMENT FROM SPLC:

“Local heat standards for workers are essential because federal and state laws are insufficient. OSHA does not have any regulations specific to heat standards, hazards, or heat related illnesses. OSHA only provides general guidelines and recommendations based on OSH Act’s General Duty Clause which requires employers to provide workers with a place of employment that is ‘free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.’ OSHA’s National Emphasis Program is based on this General Duty Clause and is intended to encourage early intervention, but is limited in its enforceability. Even if OSHA’s current regulations, guidelines, and recommendations were enough, OSHA has limited enforcement mechanisms and not enough inspectors. Waiting for the federal rulemaking process to finish is not enough to save workers from heat-related illnesses because this process can take 8 years, on average. Although OSHA initiated federal rule-making in 2021, outdoor workers suffering from heat-related illness cannot afford wait years for the federal government to create new rules and hire enough staff to properly enforce them.”

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Proposed Miami-Dade heat ordinance: https://www.miamidade.gov/govaction/commagenda.asp?cmbmeetdate=4972&file=true&changes=true&auditor=false

Proposed ordinance language that appeared before Monday’s committee members: “Ordinance creating a heat standard for outdoor workers; creating chapter 22A and amending section 8CC-10 of the code of Miami-Dade County, Florida; providing intent, purpose, and definitions; establishing procedures for implementation; providing for county enforcement; requiring certain employers to have an approved mandatory heat exposure safety program; requiring access to drinking water; requiring shaded recovery periods; providing for multilingual notice of employee rights; establishing penalties for violations of chapter; requiring reports; amending section 10-38; providing for debarment of contractors that violate heat standard for outdoor workers; providing severability, inclusion in the code, and an effective date.”

OSHA heat advisory: https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA_HA-4279.pdf

OSHA link to its Heal Illness Awareness campaign: https://www.osha.gov/heat