As Texas swelters, local rules requiring water breaks for construction workers will soon be nullifie

[douglas9]

In a week when parts of the state are getting triple-digit temperatures and weather officials urge Texans to stay cool and hydrated, Gov. Greg Abbott gave final approval to a law that will eliminate local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers.

House Bill 2127 was passed by the Texas Legislature during this year’s regular legislative session. Abbott signed it Tuesday. It will go into effect on Sept. 1.

Supporters of the law have said it will eliminate a patchwork of local ordinances across the state that bog down businesses. The law’s scope is broad but ordinances that establish minimum breaks in the workplace are one of the explicit targets. The law will nullify ordinances enacted by Austin in 2010 and Dallas in 2015 that established 10-minute breaks every four hours so that construction workers can drink water and protect themselves from the sun. It also prevents other cities from passing such rules in the future. San Antonio has been considering a similar ordinance.

Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, government data shows. At least 42 workers died in Texas between 2011 and 2021 from environmental heat exposure, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers’ unions claim this data doesn’t fully reflect the magnitude of the problem because heat-related deaths are often recorded under a different primary cause of injury.

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/16/texas-heat-wave-water-break-construction-workers/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-ends-water-breaks-for-construction-workers-amid-heat-wave

[Easterncedar]

1. That's just evil

I can’t imagine that the debate over that bill didn’t stink of sulfur.

[DFW]

2. In the summer, when I'm back in Dallas

I get sweaty and dehydrated just by making the five minute walk to a local grocery store.

I can’t even imagine what it would be like doing a construction job for hours on end every day in three digit temperatures.

[Stargazer99]

3. This proves if you are not rich or polically connected

as far as your "superiors" are concerned about you....you are expendable, a thing to use for their profit. Why is this tolerated!!! I suggest to the common man it is time to educate yourself on being gaslighted by your monied and political "superiors". There are more of us than them and that scares the hell out of them, so you must be trained to turn on each other about our social problems so you won't notice you are being manipulated. Just like one of our past Demo said...they have you fighting each other so you don't know they have their hand in your pocket

[hlthe2b]

4. It may seem irrelevant, but I have never known a disabled person to have so much disregard

for the health, safety, and well-being of others. Especially when they themselves had become disabled after an accident. What a sociopath, through and through.

[LittleGirl]

7. Same thoughts! nt

[djacq]

5. Had my Air Force training in Texas.

Summer of 1988
Basic Training at Lackland AFB, TX
Tech Training at Sheppard AFB, TX

That Texas heat is no joke.

Abbott is going to have blood on his hands.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. This is Abbott's way of saying "See! No Climate Change!" . . . . nt

[judesedit]

8. Get rid of that bum. Vote in huge numbers against him

[ashredux]

9. This is insane....come August people will die...if not before....

Texas is already hitting triple digits with high humidity…this summer will be brutal

[marble falls]

10. Kinda turns "the Heart of Texas" into sarcasm.

[Fullduplexxx]

11. There ya go Texas magats suck it up and git er dun

Yea I'm aware they're not all magats

[3Hotdogs]

12. OSHA refs will still require "heat" breaks.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

13. Abbott is such an evil, hateful person.

Normally, I would feel sympathy for someone confined to a wheelchair. But not in Abbott's case.

[Silent Type]

14. Fact is that dehydrated workers ain't gonna work very well in heat.

[Midnight Writer]

15. You would hope that any employer with a lick of sense would ensure cooling breaks for workers.

You would hope.

But you can't count on it.