Texas, what are you doing?
Texas, the 4th hottest state in the United States of America, has removed a rule that required mandated water breaks for construction workers. Considering that in Texas, temperatures regularly go into the triple digits, and will get even hotter as time wears on into the long-term future, this is a terrible idea at face value alone. Construction workers, some can argue, are the heartbeat of any functioning country. They are the ones, standing outside, digging holes in the ground to create new roads, buildings, and other projects. They are the ones carrying the heavy supplies around society to make improvements to urban and rural areas. They work in all kinds of conditions, whether that’s snow on the ground, rain, sub-zero temperatures, or triple-digit temperatures. They face the elements every day, working hard to improve our society. They should be getting all our thanks as well as policies to help them do their job better. Construction workers are the unsung hero of the world. While politicians and bureaucrats take credit for their work in approving and coming up with the projects that the workers have completed, the workers themselves get little credit, relegated to the background. The removal of an important safety rule, just like Texas did, is nothing more than a mindless exercise of insensitivity, masquerading as a pro-business policy.
The rule, specifically enacted by the city of Austin in 2010 and Dallas in 2015, mandated a 10-minute water break every 4 hours. Before Texas removed the rule, the city of San Antonio had also been considering a similar rule. The heat of Texas claimed a victim in San Antonio, just days after the rule was removed. On June 23, Gabriel Infante was installing fiber cables, a kind of cable that is often used for internet usage, TV, and more, when he started to show signs of a heat-related illness. These signs included confusion, dizziness, and losing consciousness. He eventually collapsed and was sent to the emergency room. He died at 2:25 am ON June 24. The autopsy later showed that Infante died of heat stroke. Mindless deaths like this will continue if we don’t give workers basic human rights.
Some argue that these local regulations are burdensome on the local businesses. While I admittedly do not live anywhere near Texas and therefore have little to no knowledge of the Texan economy, I still find this assertion bizarre at best and cruel at worst. For one, Heat stroke is a deadly illness, that is further exacerbated by the heat waves that have overcome Texas. Drinking water helps to a large extent stave off heat stroke as it provides some hydration and cooling to the body. This helps keep your workers productive and most importantly, alive. Taking this away will cause only further death. Are the Texan politicians and businessmen trying to tell the world that a 10-minute water break is worse for their business than a multiple of their employees dying? Such a statement is dumb at best and unworldly cruel at worst. Moreover, the regulation itself, at least to me, is not burdensome. Let’s assume for a minute that the workers work 8 hours a day, from 8 am to 4 pm, water breaks under the rule would occur at noon for 10 minutes. That's it. There are still about 7 hours and 50 minutes, not including a lunch break, to get work done. How is that in any way burdensome? I am not a business owner but I cannot fathom how that is burdensome on a business. If it somehow is, perhaps the business should dissolve and try again.
Every business should be able to provide basic human rights to each of its employees. This could, I guess, for the sake of argument, be a “one size fits all solution” as the President of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas: Geoffrey Tahuahua argues. However, what other reasonable alternatives exist? I see a water break every 4 hours, perfectly reasonable. I also would like to point out that there is still an element of flexibility in this. For example, if the company instead wishes to give its employees a 10-minute water break every 2 hours or so, I'm sure the city would not mind as long as the workers are productive. For example, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Biden administration mandated Federal contractors to be vaccinated by January 18, 2022. It does not say what brand of covid-19 vaccine needed to be taken. It does not say where one needed to take it. In every mandate, there is an element of flexibility involved, admittedly a small one. But the rule at its core is a perfectly reasonable, business-friendly one that benefits everyone involved.
To the readers, I can’t believe I am having to say this but it’s not as if a water break is a random alien-like phenomenon introduced by the gods from Pluto. It’s a very common practice. I've done lots of summer counseling at strenuous summer camps, both outdoors and indoors. It was almost a routine to get a water break at least every 2-3 hours, sometimes even every 45 minutes to an hour depending on the activity. I play soccer about 5-6 times a year, sometimes more with my dad’s friends. We drink water after 45 minutes. That’s every soccer game across the world. In American football, players get a water break every 15-20 minutes. I did some invasive species work almost a year ago exactly. We drank water after about an hour in a 2-hour exercise. I often go on hikes. I take water breaks about every 1-2 hours or so. This is a common practice, practiced by those who recognize water is a crucial part of any human body's function.
What does this have to do with Climate Change, you might ask? Well, as global temperatures rise, summers, already hot already, will swelter even more. As outdoor workers, especially those in the brutal construction industry, continue to toil in the heat, we must do our best to protect them. Yes, we need to be combating climate change through sustainable methods, political policies, economic policies, and more. But Climate Change is not a youtube video where we can just pause it, go about our work, then unpause it. No, in this case, the video will keep playing. We must deal with Climate Change in the short term as we fight it. Not doing so will only result in more deaths from heat stroke. That is something we cannot accept. We MUST come together to fight for basic human rights as Climate Change pushes us further to the breaking point.
I would like to add a note here to recognize the disturbing trend that has enveloped the Republican Party in the United States of consistently implementing anti-climate, anti-environmental, anti-educational, and anti-human rights policies against their constituents. I, as a young man, fear the worst for those living in those constituencies. Texas is just one of many states that have ignored climate change despite the scientific evidence, implemented harmful policies against their people, and then blatantly ignored the consequences. International readers, please tell me this is happening in your country. As each day passes on, these policies fill me with a large amount of worry and dread about what will happen to our future. Will our futures be dictated by a bunch of malicious politicians and billionaires? Such prospects are frightening. An evil wind is blowing at us from a small distance away. Every time we shield ourselves in our house, a hole opens up, seeking to blow us all away.
Authors note: Two main sources have been used for research in this article. In order to preserve some form of integrity, they are cited here:
Douglas, E., & Uranga, F. (2023, June 16). As Texas swelters, local rules requiring water breaks for construction workers will soon be nullified. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/16/texas-heat-wave-water-break-construction-workers/#:~:text=In%20a%20week%20when%20parts%20of%20the%20state,local%20rules%20mandating%20water%20breaks%20for%20construction%20workers.
Mulvaney, E. (2021, December 7). Biden vaccine mandate for contractors blocked nationwide (2). Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/biden-vaccine-mandate-for-federal-contractors-blocked-nationwide
