Heat Related Death? Who Knows?

Careful readers of yesterday’s Weekly Toll may have noted the death of UPS driver Umeshkumar Thakkar on July 20 near Dallas, Texas. Temperatures had reached triple digits in Dallas that day. OSHA will investigate Thakkar’s death as possibly heat-related.

The next day, about 200 miles West, Abilene Public Works employee Frank Cortez died on the job.

The city issued a 90 word press release:

City Mourns the Loss of Public Works Employee Frank Cortez

The City of Abilene is saddened to confirm the death of Public Works employee Frank Cortez, who died while performing his duties Tuesday, July 21.

Frank was a dedicated public servant who took pride in serving the community as a City of Abilene employee for nearly 30 years. The loss of Frank is felt deeply by his coworkers and the entire City organization. The City extends its deepest condolences to Frank’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Out of respect for Frank’s family, no further details are being released at this time.

How did Cortez die? The temperature in Abilene that day was around 101 degrees. Was Cortez’s death also heat related?  One Facebook commenter mentioned heat on the job. Another article stated that “Social media reports indicate Cortez’s death was related to a medical issue and not the job he was performing. ” Hmmm….

Oh well, surely OSHA will get to the bottom of Cortez’s death. Right?

Well, no. Because public employees in Texas (and 22 other states) are not covered by OSHA.  So there will be no OSHA investigation, much less any OSHA citations.

If there is to be an investigation, it will be up to the City of Abilene.  Maybe the coroner will figure it out.

The problem is that many heat-related deaths mimic other causes of death like heart attacks and strokes. For that reason, OSHA estimates that the official number of annual heat-related deaths in this country are vastly undercounted. In addition, high heat contributes to at least 27,953 excess workplace injuries each year — — slips, trips, and falls, as well as cuts and other traumatic injuries.

Oh well, at least the City of Abilene can learn a lesson from this tragedy and pass a city ordinance protecting the city’s workers from heat. Right?

Well no, because the Republican-controlled state legislature passed, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill nicknamed the “Death Star,” which  prohibited local jurisdictions from passing any kind of ordinances that would protect workers against excessive heat.

Conclusion

I will be following up on this case to see if there’s an investigation and what it finds.

Meanwhile, the City of Abilene owes more than “deepest condolences” to Frank’s family, friends, and colleagues. “Out of respect for Frank’s family,” the city must conduct a thorough investigation of Frank Cortez’s death. If it is found to be heat-related, the city may not be able to pass an ordinance protecting all workers in the city (Thanks Governor Abbott), but the City should be able to implement (and enforce!) internal policies for the city’s Public Works employees (and others who work outdoors) to provide adequate, accessible water, shade, acclimatation and training.

And it might also be a good idea for Congress — or at least the state of Texas — to pass a law providing OSHA protection to public employees. Because without that, even a strong federal OSHA standard wouldn’t have prevented Cortez’s death.

That would be a true tribute to Frank Cortez.