Cleveland Middle School teacher Sarah Hager isn’t the type of person to cry much. But as she faced five days without air conditioning in a sweltering classroom in August in Albuquerque, Hager broke down in tears.
“I got in my car that afternoon and drove home crying the entire way,” Hager said during a press conference Monday in Albuquerque.
The American Federation of Teachers – New Mexico is one of the organizations urging the Environmental Improvement Board to adopt new rules intended to protect workers from heat-related illness.
Hager said it isn’t just the teachers who are suffering because of the classroom temperatures.
“Studies confirm students learn less and perform worse on tests in hot classrooms,” she said.
Hager said the proposed Heat Illness and Injury Prevention Rule isn’t asking for any radical changes.
“We’re simply asking for a bare minimum to be met when it comes to working conditions,” she said.
The New Mexico Environment Department announced on Friday that it is extending the timeline for the rulemaking process. The Environmental Improvement Board will not have its hearing on the proposal until November under the new timeline.
The extended timeline comes as some industries and local governments have expressed concerns about the proposed rule.
Opposition comes from industries, local governments
The New Mexico Gas Company expressed concerns in public comments submitted online to the Environmental Improvement Board that there is not enough data supporting the proposed rule and that the proposal doesn’t take into account companies like the gas company that “already account for employee health and wellbeing in their working environments.”
Meanwhile, the National Association of Landscape Professionals stated in its public comment that the proposed acclimatization schedules that limit the duration of work on an employee’s first day of work are “incompatible with the seasonal nature of our workforce, where temporary or part-time workers may be onboarded weekly during peak summer months. Mandating graduated work exposure over multiple days for each new or returning employee imposes a continuous operational disruption that can be most burdensome to smaller operations.”
The association further argues that a one-size-fits-all approach “ignores the practical realities of field-based industries.”
Sandoval County also expressed some concerns about the proposal in its public comments.
“While we support the goal of worker safety, the administrative and operational demands placed on local governments, particularly rural counties with limited resources, would create significant strain on our ability to deliver essential public services efficiently,” the county wrote.
The East Torrance Soil and Water Conservation District stated in its public comments that the proposal, as it is written, “imposes a set of mandates that are largely unworkable for agricultural and conservation-based employers and employees, particularly in rural New Mexico. The rule not only risks halting essential conservation work but also threatens to significantly increase operational costs.”
Climate change leads to increasing days with extreme temperatures
The rule also comes as climate change is leading to increasing numbers of days where parts of New Mexico experience temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The advocacy groups, including Conservation Voters New Mexico, are collecting stories from New Mexicans about working in the heat as the groups push the EIB to adopt the rules. People wishing to share their stories or sign a petition in support of the proposed standards can do so at safework4all.org.
New Mexico’s proposed rule includes workers who are indoors, such as teachers like Hager.
Hager said the heat that contributed to her frustration on that August day is not unusual for teachers in New Mexico and, she said, some teachers have it worse than her.
“Many New Mexican schools have antiquated HVAC systems that are in dire need of upgrading to meet the challenges of climate change,” she said.
The rule would also outline steps employers need to take to protect outdoor workers from heat.
Carlos Matutes, the state director for GreenLatinos, said he has worked outside as a mechanic.
“I know what it’s like to be so overheated that it becomes difficult to even think clearly,” he said. “We’re asking the New Mexico Environment Department and, more importantly, employers to act quickly to protect the well-being of our state’s workers. These common-sense rules protect the nearly quarter of a million workers who put their health at risk to put food on our store shelves, to build our roads and keep our economy running here in New Mexico.”
How to get involved and next steps
The New Mexico Environment Department plans on hosting stakeholder roundtables during July and August. The department is specifically looking for information from medical and insurance providers about heat-related illness and injuries in New Mexico. The environment department also wants information from employers about the policies and procedures they use to keep employees safe.
The department anticipates filing an amended workplace heat protection rule with the Environmental Improvement Board by Oct. 1.
More information about the workplace heat protection rule can be found here.
Healthy Climate New Mexico is partnering with local governments across the state as well as advocacy groups to host Beat the Heat Fiestas this summer. The Albuquerque-area fiestas will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p..m. June 16 at Wells Park and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 21 at North Domingo Baca Park. More information is available at healthyclimatenm.org.
Road work crews already seem to observe the work for 15 minutes for every 45 minutes in the heat. Besides graft, one of the reasons NM’s roads are so lousy when compared with other states. If no one knows what featherbedding is or means, observe one of the road crews. Why not address the real problem of weather manipulation in NM? We’re already having our July/August monsoons in April, May and now early June. Before the weather manipulation started in earnest about 5 years ago, we had super hot Junes, especially the last 2 weeks. Then the monsoons would mercifully show up around 7/4. That’s all been changed. AND NO IT IS NOT CLIMATE CHANGE. It is weather manipulation. There’s so much evidence and too many people and politicians are uncomfortable knowing about it. Ignoring weather manipulation won’t change the facts.