DeSantis Signs Anti-Worker Bill Against Heat Regulation in Florida

In the face of increasingly hot weather, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, has signed into law HB 433, which effectively blocks municipalities from requiring employers to provide heat exposure abatement, such as cooling areas and cold water. This move came as a response to Miami-Dade, Florida’s most populous county, considering the passage of heat laws to protect its workers and follows the example set by fellow Republican Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, who signed similar legislation in 2023.

Abbott’s signature barring the creation of heat regulations came almost exactly one year after the heat-related death of a 24 year-old worker, Gabriel Infante, who suffered a heat stroke outside of San Antonio while laying fiber optic cable. Infante was employed by a contractor and was in his first week on the job.

By contrast, governors like Katie Hobbs (D) in Arizona have allowed municipalities to set heat standards. In a unanimous vote, city council members in Phoenix, Ariz., implemented their own heat protections for workers, requiring employers to provide shade, water, rest, and air conditioning. Employers are also required to provide training on how to recognize heat stress.

In Florida, 215 workers died of heat-related causes between 2010 and 2020, though experts warn this number may be low due to how deaths are recorded. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, “When people are exposed to extreme heat, they can suffer from potentially deadly illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Hot temperatures can also contribute to deaths from heart attacks, strokes, and other forms of cardiovascular disease.” That number also does not fully account for those working without permanent legal status or guest workers.

An estimated 2 million Floridians work outdoors. Excessive heat is also a threat to workers in factories and warehouses, which often lack air conditioning and may use machinery that creates additional heat.

Click the link for CWA’s health and safety fact sheet: Temperature Extremes and the Workplace.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.