Heat Exposure, Rest Breaks, Dehydration, and Heat-Related Illness Among Agricultural Workers in Florida Summer Heat.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2025, v. 36, no. 2: Heat Exposure, Rest Breaks, Dehydration, and Heat-Related Illness Among Agricultural Workers in Florida Summer Heat.
• Journal Article:
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
• Personal Author:
  Rudner, Nancy ; Elon, Lisa ; Xiuhtecutli, Nezahualcoyotl ; Ruiz, Ernesto ; Chicas, Roxana
• Description:
  As the earth's temperatures rise, heat is killing workers. This study of 115 agricultural workers in Florida's hot summers examines heat exposures, working conditions, dehydration, and lack of federal heat protection standards. In the summer, the median heat index in Florida, reflecting temperature and humidity, was 95°F. Some agricultural workers worked in a heat index as high as 131°F. The workers had only two daily breaks, on average, significantly less than the federal recommendations. They drank about a third of the recommended beverage consumption, and 66% finished the workday dehydrated. Over the three summer data-collection days, 11% (29) of study participants experienced one or more serious heat-related illness symptoms on the 260 individual data collection days. This study shows that, contrary to the industry's claim, voluntary worker heat protections are not followed, demonstrating the need for enforceable, required heat protections as planetary warming creates unsustainable risks for outdoor workers.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Humans
  • Heat Stress Disorders
  • Dehydration
  • Hot Temperature
  • Male
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Middle Aged
  • Farmers
  • Seasons
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Heat exposure
  • farmworkers
  • workplace heat protection
  • heat-related illness
  • climate change
• Source:
  Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 2025, v. 36, no. 2
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2025.a959115
• ISSN:
  1049-2089 ; 1548-6869
• Pubmed ID:
  40351206
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC12352266
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  K23 NR020356/NR/NINR NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 OH011782/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R25 ES033452/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Florida
• Pages in Document:
  590-604 (17 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/261418/cdc_261418_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 302.91 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bab9743658aa8e916c25311e211fda8c613ec65a272fb21c578058ea75977227eb0c550b01177a3201fb85aa0739dd9b89bd528d85dd6e4c838e4ece119b45c9