Mike Norris works so many hours outdoors in South Florida that he's an expert in handling extreme heat.
“I feel like I’ve got my Ph.D in dealing with it now,” he told WLRN. “Even in the shade sometimes, it's hot. It gets pretty brutal.”
Norris is one of between 500,000 and 2 million Floridians with jobs that require them to work outdoors.
The latest heat wave began this year, leading the National Weather Service’s office in Miami to issue a heat advisory in May for Miami-Dade County — the first in more than a decade.
“We’ve had people have to stop for the day and go home,” said Norris, who does pressure washing, and seals driveways and roofs. “Luckily, we haven't had any cases where someone had to go to the hospital, but it does happen.”
“It's important to highlight just how many people work in outdoor industries in Florida and the different roles that they might have,” said Alexis Tsoukalas, senior analyst at the Florida Policy Institute and author of a recent report, “High Heat, Higher Responsibility.”
The institute estimates almost 500,000 outdoor workers in Florida, while another study by the Union of Concerned Scientists finds the number to be higher at nearly 2 million, which would represent almost one in four workers. Most jobs for Florida's outdoor workers are in construction, amusement parks, recreation and landscaping.
“We all need to be safe and we all deserve to not have to worry that we're going to pass out or have a stroke on the job,” Tsoukalas said. “If you're having those people who are huge drivers of your economy — your theme park workers, your hospitality and service workers — getting sick, potentially dying, having to miss work — that could be disastrous for your business.”
The issue of requiring Florida businesses to provide heat protections for workers drew fierce debate during this year’s legislative session.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in April signed a bill (HB 433) that includes preventing local governments from requiring heat-exposure protections for workers.
That part of the bill came after the Miami-Dade County Commission last year considered a proposal to require construction and agriculture companies to take steps such as ensuring that workers have access to water and giving them 10-minute breaks in the shade every two hours when the heat index is at least 95 degrees, according to a House staff analysis.
Supporters of the bill, including groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida, said it would prevent a patchwork of regulations and that employers already face requirements to protect workers from heat-related injuries.
Opponents countered that workers need additional protections as they earn livings in Florida’s sometimes-stifling heat.
The Biden administration announced in early July that it's moving forward with a proposal that would require heat protections for workers across the country. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a proposed rule that would require employers to provide such things as water and rest breaks when temperatures top certain thresholds.
“Workers all over the country are passing out, suffering heat stroke and dying from heat exposure from just doing their jobs, and something must be done to protect them,” Douglas L. Parker, OSHA's assistant secretary for occupational safety and health, said in a statement. “[This] proposal is an important next step in the process to receive public input to craft a ‘win-win’ final rule that protects workers while being practical and workable for employers.”
Protections for outdoor workers
Before the state law went into effect, Miami-Dade commissioners had considered an ordinance that would have provided heat-related protections for outdoor workers, including implementing a heat exposure safety education program and setting up a new office to enforce the heat standard rules.
The measure came in response to a multi-year campaign from the advocacy group WeCount!, called “Qué Calor”. The aim was to gain official protections for outdoor workers, especially those on farms, at plant nurseries and in construction projects, from the county's commission.
The agriculture and construction industries led an intense campaign against the measure. The item was later withdrawn because of the new state law that bans local heat protections in Florida.
Still, activists continue to press for heat protections for workers.
Sunrise Movement Miami, a youth-led organization advocating for stronger policies to fight climate change, hosted a rally in Brickell, south of downtown Miami, urging commissioners to find ways to combat extreme heat, despite the new law.
“I’m here because we’re on day 21 of extreme heat in Miami this summer, and us young people are here and tired of having to face this extreme heat on our own,” said Matt Ellis-Ramirez, one of the organizers.
Sunrise Movement Miami wants the heat protection issue addressed with the creation of "green" union jobs, adding more green space and boosting local "cooling centers" with longer hours of operation.
Dangers of heat-related illness
Heat protection is especially critical in Florida, which led the country in the number of emergency room visits and hospitalizations for heat-related illness — from heat rash and exhaustion to heat stroke — between 2018 and 2022, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC data was included in the Florida Policy Institute's report.
It's not just outdoor workers who feel the brunt of extreme heat. People especially at risk include children and teens who frequent the outdoors, and people 65 and older with chronic conditions who take medications.
Jackson Memorial Hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Hany Atallah, said anyone feeling dizzy and lightheaded from heat needs to be quickly moved indoors an air-conditioned building and given cool water to drink.
Such procedures will help lower the body temperature, said Atallah, who added that people who train or work outside also need to take breaks, eat and stay hydrated.
Ice bags... for humans
“There's now a bag that you can put a patient in, fill it with ice and reduce core body temperature within minutes,” said Dr. Randy Katz, the division chief of emergency services for the Memorial Healthcare System in Broward and the chief medical officer for the city of Hollywood.
“There are some agencies around the state of Florida that are now using these hypothermic bags that can be filled with ice and a patient can be put in them.”
If the body’s core temperature gets too high, it can have serious consequences on our organs, he said.
“Your kidneys shut down, your brain function is affected. You can develop all types of cardiovascular complications,” said Katz, adding it also affects the heart rate and blood pressure. “People that have heart disease or even diabetes are at much more risk of complications than a younger, healthy person.”
Humidity makes it harder for sweat to evaporate to cool us off. When temperatures are well into the 90s and we have a lot of humidity, it will feel even hotter.
If humidity is 60%, for instance, and the temperature reads 90 degrees, it’s actually going to feel like 100.
“It seems that the summer is starting earlier and earlier and lasts longer and longer,” said Katz. “And the temperatures are slowly climbing, so heat related illness and heat stroke are real medical issues.”
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