Tomorrow's going to be another scorcher, but I don't think Sears' air conditioning installation service is going to save us like it did in the '90s.
As of Wednesday, more than 144 million Americans were living under some level of excessive heat alert, USA Today reports, citing HEAT.gov. While not over the entire U.S., it's definitely coast to coast and hits the West, South, Southeast and up the Mid-Atlantic to parts of New England.
"Near all-time high temperature record heat will continue over portions of the Southwest this week," the National Weather Service said. "This long-duration heat wave remains extremely dangerous and deadly if not taken seriously."
Deadly is correct, as NBC News reports that the deaths of at least 30 people were suspected to be from the excessive heat in six states. That number is expected to grow.
Jumping back to that USA Today story, the outlook doesn't look so cool.
Paul Pastelok, meteorologist and long-range forecaster for AccuWeather, told the newspaper that a large area of high pressure in the West is preventing cooling clouds and rains from forming, and that pressure will spread into the central U.S. next week. Nothing is expected to disrupt the pattern, which means more people baking in the summer heat.
Last year was the hottest year on record, and this past June was the 13th straight month of record temperatures globally.
It's not looking great.
All of this is to set up my real point: Keep your workers safe this summer.
For operators, think of the employees who work at your hotels. How many of them have jobs that keep them out of air conditioning for stretches at a time? Landscapers? Engineers?
But think beyond that as well. If you're a developer, who are you working with on new projects? Do these construction companies and other contractors have policies — and actual practices — that give their workers breaks from the heat? You should want to associate yourself, your company, with those who value their employees' lives and want to keep them safe. If nothing else, you wouldn't want a news story breaking about a worker dying from heat stroke while building your hotel project.
There are several U.S. states, counties and cities that have laws in effect that offer workers protection from extreme heat, and you should absolutely follow those, if not go beyond them. There are a few states, namely Texas and Florida, that not only don't have such protections but actually banned county and city governments from putting such protections in place. Such bans don't prevent businesses from having heat and water breaks as part of their policies, however.
Randy Coffey, a partner at the lawfirm Fisher Phillips, mentioned in an HNN podcast interview that the overturning of the Chevron deference by the Supreme Court could result in legal challenges for proposed exposure rules from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. I know OSHA isn't exactly a popular government agency, but these rules don't seem over taxing on companies. As NPR reports, they would require employers to provide drinking water and rest breaks when the combined outdoor temperature and relative humidity hits 80 degrees. Once the heat index hits 90 degrees, the employees would receive a minimum 15 minute paid break every two hours. Plus, there would need to be a system in place to monitor workers for signs of heat stroke or exhaustion.
Whatever the laws are, existing or not, it is the ethical and moral choice to make sure employees are safe while on the job.
Hospitality is a people business, and in order for hotel staff to take care of guests, their employers must be hospitable to employees.
You can reach me at bwroten@hotelnewsnow.com as well as LinkedIn.
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