Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1505029
Fall 2023 – LOCAL695.COM 35 Over the past thirty-five years, heat has claimed more lives per year on average than flooding and hurricanes combined. Heat is the leading weather-related killer in the United States. Even so, many heat-related deaths go misdiagnosed or unrecognized because heat exposure often exacerbates underlying medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. "As we continue to see temperatures rise and records broken, our changing climate affects millions of America's workers who are exposed to tough and potentially dangerous heat," said U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. "We must act now to address the impacts of extreme heat and to prevent workers from suffering the agony of heat illness or death." In 2021, LA Mayor Garcetti named Marta Segura as the city's first Chief Heat Officer. On August 31 of 2022, Burbank and Woodland Hills reached record highs of 112 degrees. Temperatures continue to rise as evidenced by July of this year which is believed to be the hottest July experienced by the planet in the one hundred seventy-five years of recorded global temperatures. On the upside, mitigating the risks is actually good for a business's bottom line! I'll get back to that point in a minute. First, what exactly are heat-related illnesses and what are the causes? According to the EPA, heat-related illnesses can occur when a person is exposed to high temperatures, such that their body cannot cool itself sufficiently through sweating. Symptoms range from mild swelling, rashes, or cramps to potentially deadly heat exhaustion and heat stroke. On Thursday, February 9, of this year, California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a multistate coalition of attorneys general in a petition urging the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take emergency regulatory action to protect workers against extreme heat. Bonta stated, "As climate change results in longer, more intense, and more frequent heatwaves, workers in California and across the country are increasingly and unnecessarily exposed to dangerous conditions on the job. We have the tools to address this challenge and we must use them." Climate change means more extreme weather events like the record cold and rain we experienced last winter here in sunny California. No matter the cause, just about everyone agrees that the earth is getting warmer. No matter where we live, we will all experience more frequent and more extreme heat events leading to more heat-related illnesses.