Stricter Laws for Farm Workers Sought

Labor and Employment – State News June 18 2009

Sacramento – The family of a pregnant farm worker who died from heat has asked for tougher state laws to protect farm people or those who work outdoors.

The call was made in a meeting conducted by the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) with farm workers. The meeting was made in an effort to draft a new emergency guideline designed to protect the workers.

While California law provides shade and water breaks for workers, both companies and workers are still arguing on the issue of when is the right condition for one to avail of the said breaks.

As a result, farm workers are a clearer definition of the law.

Last summer, 17-year old Maria Isabel Jimenez who was the pregnant collapsed in a vineyard when the temperatures peaked at 95 degrees. She died later.

"There's still non-compliance out there. And hopefully by providing a little more clarity to the regulations, we help get some of those employers to come into compliance," said Dean Fryer of the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Meanwhile, United Farm Workers and attorneys for the ACLU however said the emergency regulations are rife with “loopholes and exceptions”.

Meanwhile, Cal/OSHA said they will implement stricter enforcement of the law. The agency has hired more inspectors and has issued nearly $2 million in citations last year compared to less than a million in 2007.

The agency hopes to make the emergency regulations permanent.