"The long-awaited rule could be finalized before November, but it faces political hurdles either way."
"In the summer of 2011, Victor Ramirez was working in a Walmart warehouse in Mira Loma, California, when he suddenly fainted. When he came to, he was lying on the floor, confused about what had just happened, with his head aching terribly. While he didn’t receive any medical attention — his boss only told him to go home if he didn’t feel well enough to keep working — he knew that this sudden bout of unconsciousness must have been triggered by the relentless heat in the warehouse.
“When it’s hot outside, it feels even hotter within the warehouses, because of all the machinery,” Ramirez told Grist in Spanish. “If it’s like 110 outside, then it’s like 10 more degrees inside.” The heat was exacerbated by a lack of water and poor air circulation inside the warehouse.
Later that summer, he once again felt similar symptoms. He was flushed, profusely sweating, and his head was hurting. This time around, he knew these were signs of heat stress and told a supervisor, who asked Ramirez why he was “acting dumb” and questioned why he wasn’t working faster. In both instances, no one offered emergency aid or even recommended he go see a doctor. (Walmart declined to comment on Ramirez’s experience, stating that the site was operated by a third-party, Schneider Logistics. A spokesperson for Schneider Logistics did not respond to Grist’s request for comment.)"
Ayurella Horn-Muller and Frida Garza report for Grist July 1, 2024.
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