Ian Quattrocchi is a landscape worker, born and raised in St. Louis' summer heat and humidity, but the extreme heat has changed the way he and other outdoor laborers are working this week.
The National Weather Service on Monday for the St. Louis region that lasts through Wednesday evening, as the area endures conditions that can feel as hot as 110 degrees.
In 2015, Missouri had about 15 days with dangerous heat levels, according to , a project that shows how Americans experience climate change. By 2050, that number is expected to quadruple, the report says.
To withstand the blazing heat this week, Quattrocchi and Chris Carl, who owns Studio Land Arts, have a system.
鈥淎nytime you're starting to feel pretty exhausted, we're telling each other, 鈥楬ey, let's take a break now,鈥欌�� Quattrocchi said.
In addition to taking frequent breaks, Quattrocchi said they both try to work in the shade as much as possible 鈥� using the buildings and trees around them to their advantage.
鈥淵ou can kind of plan your day,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you start early, we know where the shade is and we can try to follow where the shade鈥檚 at.鈥�
State-level plans
Heat is a huge issue for outdoor laborers in Missouri, said Bill McDonald, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration director in St. Louis.
Twenty-two states that enforce stricter standards on employers to protect their employees than the federal administration requires nationwide.
鈥淐ertain states can go above and beyond what the federal mandate is if they want more protections for their workers,鈥� he said.
Missouri does not have a state plan. Illinois does, but it covers state and local government workers only.
Neither has another tool to help protect workers: a heat standard. (: California, Minnesota and Washington). Without that heat standard, McDonald said it鈥檚 difficult for OSHA to issue formal citations against companies.
鈥淪ince we don't have a standard, it's a lot harder to enforce,鈥� McDonald said. 鈥淲e have to prove that the employer knew or should have known that [the heat] was a hazard.鈥�
Within the past year, OSHA has increased its marketing and education to address heat-related illnesses and deaths. The effort includes a National Emphasis Program, which aims to prevent emergencies on job sites.
鈥淲e can actually target workplaces beforehand and evaluate their heat illness program prior to them actually having an issue with heat,鈥� McDonald said.
The program began in April and addresses specific industries that are most affected by heat. In St. Louis, this includes construction, roofing and delivery services, McDonald said.
The administration has also developed a mobile app, , which gives users location-specific heat index values and says how dangerous it is to be outside.
With high temperatures and the current heat advisory in St. Louis, the Missouri Department of Transportation is providing water, electrolyte drinks and PPE equipment to outdoor workers within the department, said Joe Moore said, MODOT鈥檚 safety and health manager.
In addition, Moore said the department is postponing work that could put workers at risk in the heat, such as patching hot asphalt or working on bridges made of metal that heats up quickly.
鈥淭here'll be no free days at work this week,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淲e'll still be working full staff as always, [and] we'll just have changed some operations around to make sure we don't have any heat-related emergencies.鈥�
Farrah Anderson is the newsroom intern at 漏 2024 外网天堂. Follow her on Twitter: .
