HILLIARD, Ohio — On Thursday, landscaping crews in Hilliard called it a day early.
"We have lots of experience working in the summers when it’s hot but we need to minimize the effects,” said Amanda Buck-Rhodes of Buck & Sons Landscaping.
Longer breaks and staying hydrated. That's the strategy to keep her crew safe.
“You gotta keep everybody healthy,” she said.
Heat is the most dangerous weather event in the U.S. Every year it causes more deaths than floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Heat stroke can quickly damage your brain, your heart, and other parts of your body.
Symptoms of heat stroke include a high temp, vomiting, or a racing heart and headache.
On Thursday, President Biden asked the Department of Labor to issue a hazard alert. This means ramped-up enforcement of heat-safety violations and inspections at high-risk job sites. Biden's announcement also includes a $7 million investment to improve the nation's forecasting capabilities.
“You think about increasing heat, you know, hotter summers, longer droughts, more fires. Think about the smoke from the Canadian wildfires,” said Ken Graham, Director of NOAA's National Weather Service and the Assistant Administrator for Weather Services at NOAA.
However earlier this week, Senator Sherrod Brown sent a letter to OSHA and the Department of Labor asking for more to be done.
"Working conditions are not safe in that kind of heat. For construction workers, for people working as homecare workers, sometimes there are people working in manufacturing people working in all kinds of jobs,” Senator Brown said.
He wants to see a federal heat safety standard that includes mandated routine breaks for rest, shade, and hydration.
"We know most employers are good, and are fair about this. But there are a number of employee employers that aren't. And I want those workers to have protection from that kind of heat stress that can be debilitating and sometimes life-threatening."
Senator Brown pointed to states like California and Minnesota that already have laws in place to protect workers in the heat.