Thursday, June 26, 2008
CDC warns of heat-related deaths among outdoor workers
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of the risks of heat-related illnesses and deaths among workers in outdoor occupations such as farming.
During 1992-2006, 423 workers in U.S. industries were reported to have died from exposure to environmental heat, the report said. Of those, about 24 percent occurred among workers employed in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industries, including 16 percent among workers engaged in crop production or farming support activities. CDC statistics show the heat-related average annual death rate for crop workers was 0.39 per 100,000 workers, compared with 0.02 for all U.S. workers. The majority of crop workers who died from heat-related illnesses were foreign-born, the report said.