California reduces farmworker workload as heat rises

has dramatically reduced enforcement of heat protection laws for outdoor workers, while extreme heat has intensified in recent years, endangering farmworkers, construction workers and others who labor in scorching temperatures, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and Capital & Main.

According to agency data, between 2017 and 2023, the number of field inspections conducted by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA, decreased by nearly 30%. The number of citations issued to employers in that period decreased by more than 40%.

Worker advocates say the numbers show that California’s landmark outdoor heat illness law, which was enacted nearly two decades ago after several farmworkers died in San Joaquin Valley fields, has not been adequately enforced. The law requires protections such as providing shaded rest areas and “pure and adequately cool” water as “close as practicable” to workers when temperatures exceed 80 degrees.

“We need Cal/OSHA to be out there more often and do more inspections that will hopefully save farmworkers’ lives,” said Ephraim Camacho, an outreach worker with California Rural Legal Assistance who visits fields in the San Joaquin Valley and helps workers file complaints. “We constantly get calls from workers complaining, specifically, about the lack of shade and clean water.”

In a statement, Cal/OSHA said its 2023 inspection numbers were up from 2021. But the number of inspections in 2023 was also down 15% from the previous year, according to the data. The agency said it is improving training and investing in automation.

“The department will continue to intensify these efforts as we work aggressively to increase hiring,” Cal/OSHA said. The agency said it is creating a new agricultural unit that will operate in cities including Lodi, Salinas, El Centro and Fresno and “significantly expand enforcement.”

According to climate assessments by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), high temperatures in much of California’s agricultural heartland are increasingly exceeding 40 degrees in July and August, making the state’s sixth-warmest year on record since 2014. At least 17 workers have died in heat-related incidents since 2014, according to Cal/OSHA.

The Legislature is considering a bill by Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), a former farmworker, that would promote enforcement of state outdoor heat rules and ensure that workers receive compensation and medical treatment if they suffer heat-related injuries while working for an employer who hasn’t followed the law. In cases where farmworkers die, their families would receive compensation.

For years, Cal/OSHA has struggled with staffing shortages that critics say have compromised worker safety. As of June 30, the most recent figures available, the agency had a 37% vacancy rate, or 141 open positions, in its enforcement office, which oversees workplace inspections. Earlier this year, lawmakers criticized Cal/OSHA for multiple oversight failures during an Assembly hearing in which farmworkers and their supporters accused the agency of repeatedly failing to enforce workplace protection laws.

Capital & Main, an investigative journalism organization, interviewed more than 40 farmworkers across California in recent months. Workers said they often work without shade and sometimes without water provided by employers. At other times, workers said, there isn’t enough shade for all employees and break areas and water can be hundreds of feet away in sprawling fields, making it impractical to reach them during afternoon breaks that often last just 10 minutes.

“The only thing that matters is production,” said farmworker Nazario Sarmiento, 37, in Spanish, adding that for years he has picked lemons, oranges and grapefruit in San Joaquin Valley orchards without shade and sometimes without water provided by employers.

A reporter surveyed agricultural fields in seven California counties this spring and summer and saw workers working without shade, including in a grape field on a 108-degree day in Kern County, in citrus groves on a 99-degree day in Tulare County, in a pepper field on a 91-degree day in San Benito County, and in tomato fields on an 89-degree day in Contra Costa County.

In interviews, worker advocates said they have also visited fields that lacked shade or where water and shade were hundreds of feet away.

“I won’t say it’s on every farm… But I will say there is negligence when it comes to protecting workers, whether they’re hired directly by the farm or hired through a contractor that the farm hires,” said Marivel Mendoza, executive director of Hijas del Campo, which distributes food, water and protective gear to farm workers in Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties.

Workers said they do not complain or file charges for fear of being criticized by supervisors. “They will say you are not doing your job and they will fire you,” said a 36-year-old strawberry picker from the Santa Maria Valley in Spanish.

Since May, the California Department of Industrial Relations, which oversees Cal/OSHA, has denied multiple requests from Capital & Main for detailed breakdowns of outdoor thermal safety inspections, including enforcement actions by industry and region, claiming the records cannot be disclosed due to “privilege.”

A farm worker holds a water bottle containing a piece of ice while working in a peach orchard in August 2023.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Still, data from the agency's 2023 annual report shows a steady decline in the overall number of enforcement actions over the six-year period.

In 2017, Cal/OSHA inspectors conducted 4,150 outdoor heat safety inspections and cited employers for 1,996 violations. In 2023, the agency recorded 2,929 inspections and 1,130 violations.

The report highlighted the importance of outreach activities to raise awareness of heat illness prevention standards and safety measures. Outreach activities include educational materials for employers and workers and communications for vulnerable communities. However, between 2017 and 2023, the number of outreach activities dropped by 83%, from 1,805 to 308, the report shows.

In 2005, California became the first state in the country to enact outdoor heat safety standards.

The outdoor heat law applies to the agriculture, construction, landscaping, and oil and gas extraction industries, as well as certain transportation activities. Employers must provide heat illness training and have a safety plan written in English and a language understood by the majority of their workers.

For farmworkers, employers must take additional measures against high temperatures when they reach 95 degrees. These include 10-minute “cool-down” breaks every two hours and additional breaks while working overtime.

A recent study by the Community and Labor Center at the University of California, Merced, estimated that 59% of California’s farmworkers were noncitizens, the highest percentage of any industry in the state. Many of those farmworkers face language, technology or other barriers to filing complaints, while others are hesitant to speak up because of their immigration status, according to worker advocates. These barriers, advocates say, make it especially critical for Cal/OSHA to step up enforcement operations.

“These are long-standing issues that have been ignored for too long,” said Irene De Barraicua, director of policy and communications for Líderes Campesinas, a statewide organization that advocates for the rights of women farmworkers and their families. She said Cal/OSHA needs to leverage its limited resources by partnering with community organizations that are trusted by workers and can help conduct outreach.

“If you don’t have these inspectors, or it’s not done quickly enough,” he said, “then there should be more formal collaboration with community organizations that are on the ground.”

This story was produced in association with Capital & Main, the McGraw Center for Business Journalism to the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, City University of New York and was supported by the Fund for investigative journalism.