OSHA Cites Contractor After Florida Farm Worker Fatality

On August 12, 20222, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a citation to a farm labor contractor alleging violations for exposing workers to high ambient outdoor heat following the death of a worker on a strawberry farm in Florida.
The citation serves as warning for employers, particularly those in warm climates, of OSHA’s enforcement approach following the April 2022 launch of the agency’s new three-year national emphasis program (NEP) on indoor and outdoor heat-related hazards, particularly with regard to how working in the sunlight can create hazardous conditions.
OSHA alleged two specific violations in the citation: (1) that the farm failed to properly protect employees from the hazards of high ambient heat by not developing and implementing a Heat Illness Prevention Plan