Another farmworker in South Florida died on the job as the region has endured more than 37 consecutive days of high temperatures that feel above 100 degrees.
Dozens of people attended a vigil Wednesday to mourn the death of Efraín López García, a 29-year-old farmworker who died two weeks ago after he began experiencing symptoms consistent with heat illness while working, family and friends told NBC South Florida.
Claudia González, an advocate for the Florida Farm Workers Association, attended the vigil.
“No one deserves to die lying on a farm or working on a farm,” González told NBC News in Spanish.
On July 5, López García was working on a farm in Homestead that grows taro, guava, and avocado. A family member who worked with him noted that he was not feeling well.
López García complained of having a headache and experiencing other symptoms that indicated he might have been dehydrated, the relative said, according to González. The farm worker of Guatemalan descent drank water and used ice to cool down.
At first he felt better and walked away. But moments later, López García was found unconscious on the floor, González said.
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner is still working on an autopsy to determine Lopez Garcia’s exact cause of death. NBC South Florida reported.
But family and friends believe he is the second farmworker in the state to die from extreme heat.
In January, a Parkland farmworker died after experiencing heat illness-related symptoms on his first day of work. according to the US Department of Labor..
The 28-year-old Mexican farm worker was struggling to keep up with the more experienced workers. He «complained of fatigue and leg pain as the area’s heat index approached 90 degrees,» the Labor Department said in a news release last month. Co-workers found it «unresponsive in a shallow drainage ditch,» the news release added.
A Departmental Investigation Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the farm labor contractor who hired the worker «could have prevented his death by following established safety practices regarding heat-related hazards,» according to the statement. The contractor now faces $15,625 in «proposed sanctions”, according to the press release.
The Labor Department is also investigating the death of López García, according to González.
At least 344 workers died from heat exposure between 2011 and 2019, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Labor Department said measuring a concrete number of deaths related to heat illness can be difficult since other causes of death are sometimes cited when it comes to heat illness.
The data published this year show that, in 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate that exposure to ambient heat claimed the lives of 36 workers that year.
In many cases, workers who die of heat illness are just starting a new job, the Labor Department said.
But in the case of López García, he died on the farm where he has worked for about 10 years, González said.
“This shows that anyone working outdoors is at risk,” he added.
On Tuesday, a ordinance to create a heat standard in South Florida passed its first reading by unanimous vote of the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.
The heat standard would establish regulations to ensure outdoor workers have access to water, shade and breaks.
The matter has been referred to a committee for a public hearing. tentatively scheduled for 9/11.
The tentative hearing presents a small glimmer of hope considering the federal government has been locked in a years-long process to write heat safety rules that would protect workers from dangerously high temperatures.
Meanwhile, to reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to heat-related problems, OSHA created a program last year to help employers better protect their employees.