(C) Common Dreams This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Baltimore IG: DPW workers lack access to ice, water, AC during heat waves [1] ['Hannah Gaskill'] Date: 2024-07-10 Baltimore Department of Public Works employees in Cherry Hill do not have adequate access to water, ice or fans to combat intense summer heat, according to a report Wednesday from the city’s inspector general. The report said the agency hasn’t responded adequately to complaints about the problem, potentially violating federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards as well as a memorandum of understanding the city has with the workers’ union. “The OIG requests for swift and immediate action to be taken to prevent further risk and explore alternatives, including a possible alternate work site,” according to the report from the office of Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming. On June 5, Cumming’s office received a complaint that DPW employees are not given sufficient resources to keep cool and were expected to buy bags of ice to bring to work. A OIG site visit on June 6 at the Cherry Hill yard on Reedbird Avenue in South Baltimore found the staff locker room had no air conditioning or fans. A breakroom ice machine was broken, and an employee said it hadn’t worked since last summer, the report says. On June 14, the inspector general’s office visited workers on a recycling pickup route. Crew members said they were not provided water, ice or Gatorade ahead of their shift. Their truck didn’t have air conditioning. The temperature that day reached 93 degrees, according to AccuWeather. Cumming brought the issue June 20 to DPW management. DPW Acting Director Khalil Zaied responded June 26, saying all ice machines would undergo maintenance, trucks would be repaired to ensure they had air conditioning, moisture wear T-shirts were ordered for employees, and staff were instructed to use a trailer at the Cherry Hill site as a cooling station until the locker room AC was fixed. “DPW is committed to ensuring the well-being of employees in all our facilities throughout the Baltimore Metropolitan area,” Zaied wrote. However, the inspector general’s office received further complaints Tuesday and conducted an emergency follow-up visit Wednesday. Employees told Cumming that water bottles were provided the day before in an ice-filled trash container. Cumming saw a trash can Wednesday with warm bottles floating in water. Two ice machines were broken and Cumming reported she couldn’t find a working water fountain. Cumming also reported that the locker room HVAC system didn’t work. A temporary air conditioner was off, a cold-water faucet at a sink ran hot, and an industrial fan blew air at a low frequency. “While it was not possible to obtain an exact temperature, the room was hot, humid and no cool airflow was present,” the report says. “This is clearly a violation of our contract. We have reached out to DPW to rectify this,” Patrick Moran, the president of the Maryland chapter of AFSCME, which represents DPW workers, said in a phone interview Wednesday. “We will continue to beat this drum until this is resolved. People cannot be expected to work in these conditions over and over and over again.” The air conditioning system at the trailer employees were instructed to cool off had stopped working in June, the report also said. A temporary air conditioning unit’s thermostat registered between 83 and 85 degrees between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Wednesday in the trailer. That was well before the heat reached its peak for the day of 95 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Jennifer Combs, a DPW spokeswoman, said Wednesday that she would provide a response to the latest OIG findings, but had not done so as of 5 p.m. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/07/10/dpw-ice-water-air-conditioning-baltimore/ Published and (C) by Common Dreams Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/