Delivery, Logistics Companies Respond to Hot Working Conditions after Worker Deaths

Carteret, NJ (WorkersCompensation.com) – Amid the deaths of several warehouse workers and delivery drivers due to heat, some logistics companies may be changing working conditions. 

The images are staggering. On Twitter this past week, UPS drivers posted temperature readings from inside their delivery trucks. In a post by the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, the posts show thermometer readings ranging from nearly 120 to 140 degrees. 

“UPS drivers are sharing thermometer reads from inside their trucks,” the Teamsters’ post read. “UPS CEOs would never accept working in 120 or 130-degree offices. Drivers shouldn't have to either.” 

The posts come on the heels of deaths of delivery drivers and Amazon warehouse workers allegedly due to the heat. 

In Carteret, N.J., Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias, 42, died in mid-July while working in an un-air-conditioned area of the Carteret Warehouse. Workers told NBC News Frias had asked for a fan hours before he collapsed on the warehouse floor. 

Amazon has said his death was due to a “personal medical condition.” 

But workers said since the incident Amazon has upgraded the industrial air conditioning at the warehouse, according to NBC News. Workers said warehouse also added fans in areas that didn’t previously had them that were known to be especially hot and with little air circulation. 

But Amazon said the new equipment was just part of normal upgrades. 

“Our climate control systems constantly measure the temperature in our buildings, and our safety teams are empowered to take action to address any temperature-related issues,” spokesman Sam Stephenson told NBC News. 

Stephenson said the company takes safety precautions in warm weather, always provides access to water stations and encourages employees to take breaks to hydrate if they feel like they are getting overheated.

But employees at the plant said the company also taken other steps to address the heat – managers handing out more water and snacks, supervisors encouraging workers to take breaks, and management posting charts showing dehydration risks indicated by urine color in bathrooms. 

“Amazon is an agency that reacts to situations. They’re not proactive,” an employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, told NBC. “They wait till something happens and then they act like they’re doing something.” 

Throughout the summer employees out in the heat, as well as in the warehouse, are feeling the effects of rising temperatures. 

In Long Island this summer, Nicholas Gubell, a UPS driver, said he was nearing the end of his route when he started feeling off. After delivering nearly 200 packages, Gubell was feeling the effects of the high 80s temperatures that were sending temperature inside the un-air-conditioned van he was driving spiraling. 

Gubell told the New York Times he pulled over to the side of the road, panting and barely able to speak, and called for help on his cellphone gripped tightly in his hand that had cramped up due to dehydration. When paramedics arrived, they laid ice on him to lower his body temperature before transporting him to a nearby hospital. 

“My body was losing it,” he said. “I was just trying to hold on as best I could.” 

As climate change causes temperatures to spike across the country, labor advocates are calling for reforms to save workers from further injury. 

“They’re vomiting, their bodies are shutting down,” said Dave Reeves, the president of Local 767, a Texas local of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents 350,000 UPS workers across the country. He added, “It’s awful.” 

Over the summer, he said, 18 of about 9,500 workers in his area had become sick because of the heat. 

“It’s absolutely getting worse,” he said.

According to OSHA, since 2015, at least 270 UPS and United States Postal Service drivers have suffered injury because of the heat, and in many cases those drivers have been hospitalized due to heat exposure. Workers from other companies like FedEx have also suffered from heat exhaustion. The industry has also reported several deaths due to heat exposure; agency records show. 

In late June, Esteban Chavez, Jr., 24, collapsed and died in Southern California while making deliveries. Later Jose Rodriguez, 23, was found in his company’s parking lot, dead from heat exhaustion near the end of his shift. 

According to NewJersey.com, two other Amazon workers have died this year because of the heat – one at the Robbinsville, N.J. facility on July 27 and another at the Monroe Township, N.J. facility. OSHA is investigating both incidents and lists heat as factor in the complaint.

While OSHA has proposed new regulation to keep employees safe from the heat, officials say it could be years before those regulations are put in place.

Share This Article: