From the Union of Concerned Scientists: "Climate change makes extreme heat more likely and more intense. Already, outdoor workers are fighting for their lives and even dying while working under these dangerous conditions. Access to water, rest, and shade are fundamental to health and safety, not luxuries. These simple and humane measures will prevent heat-related illness such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be fatal.

Named after Asunción Valdivia, a farmworker who was only 53 years old when he died of heat stroke after working a 10-hour shift picking grapes in California on a 105-degree July day, these bills direct the Secretary of Labor to quickly issue an interim standard to protect workers from extreme heat now. Sadly, several workers have already lost their lives due to unrelenting heat conditions, lives that could have been saved with basic cooling protections. These lives could have been saved if this legislation were already in effect.

Heat is a silent killer that can and must be guarded against. Black and Latino workers make up a disproportionately large number of its victims. Ensuring strong protections will advance racial justice as well as workers' rights."

Climate change will only increase temperatures in most places on the planet. More workers will face heat illness due to these changes. We can't allow any workers to fall through the cracks.