Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to the hazard of heat-related illnesses: a) On or about and at times prior to May 22, 2019, employees were exposed to conditions of high heat of 93ºF during the performance of their job duties, including loading of watermelons in the field. Observer temperature of 93ºF, relative humidity of 34%, long pants with dark shirts, and loading of watermelons onto truck (10-12 truckloads per day) took place on the day of the accident. According to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) weather station data on May 22, 2019, heat index values were calculated to be in NOAAs Extreme Caution category, corresponding to OSHAs Moderate risk level. Such exposures may lead to the development of serious heat-related illnesses such as, but not limited to heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.