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Associated Press - June 19, 2009 12:54 AM ET
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - California officials have refused to vote on emergency workplace safety rules aimed at slowing the rate of heat-related deaths among farmworkers.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and top state leaders called for the changes after inspectors found dozens of laborers toiling in the fields with little or no shade or water during an early heat wave last month.
1 of the proposed new rules would trigger shade requirements when the temperature reaches 85 degrees. But members of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board said today they were concerned that might not be the right temperature to require such measures.
Meanwhile, farmworker advocates say the proposed new rules contain exceptions that wouldn't keep workers safe. They point to a provision that allows employers to bow out of putting up umbrellas or canopies if that were infeasible.
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