After working as a UPS driver on a 103-degree day in Texas, Matthew Moczygemba wound up at a hospital emergency room, where he was diagnosed with dehydration and heat exhaustion. His story isn't an isolated issue for the company. #NBCNewsThreads (1/10) nbcnews.to/3SoZo6x
UPS employees and union leaders say this year more workers seem to be getting sick and have been hospitalized because of the heat than ever before. In response, they are demanding that the company put more safety measures in place. (2/10)
The workers' union issued a public letter outlining a series of steps it says UPS should take immediately to improve the safety of its drivers. They include providing fans in every truck, consistent supplies of water and ice, and hiring more drivers to reduce workload. (3/10)
“By refusing to implement these safety measures, the company is literally sending drivers out to die in the heat,” says Sean M. O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (4/10)
Heat illness, which in severe cases can lead to locked muscles, kidney failure, and death, has long been a risk for UPS workers in the summer and a point of contention between the company and its workers. (5/10) nbcnews.com/investigations…
Work safety experts say it’s difficult to know how many workers are injured by heat each year. Those numbers are generally underreported and only include in-patient hospitalizations. (6/10)
UPS is unique, Juley Fulcher says, in its size and “extremely detailed procedures” for its workers.
“They’re in a uniquely positive position to actually do something about this, because they are so structured." (7/10)
“They’re in a uniquely positive position to actually do something about this, because they are so structured." (7/10)
Jorja Rodriguez lost her 23-year-old son on his second day of driving a UPS truck after finishing training. He was found lying in a concrete culvert by the facility parking lot and pronounced dead around 2 a.m. (8/10)
OSHA later ruled that Rodriguez had died from a heat-related illness, and issued UPS a fine.
The agency has begun an effort to inspect more often for heat-related dangers and is working on creating heat-specific worker protections, but those will take years to institute. (9/10)
The agency has begun an effort to inspect more often for heat-related dangers and is working on creating heat-specific worker protections, but those will take years to institute. (9/10)
“This could have been prevented,” said Rodriguez. “My son could still be here.” (10/10) nbcnews.com/investigations…
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