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Baltimore Maintains Trash Collection Through 110-Degree Heat With Mandatory Breaks and Hydration Protocols

The Department of Public Works is following a heat illness prevention plan established after a worker’s death to safeguard crews during today’s Extreme Heat Warning

A worker returns from his vehicle in a view from outside of The Reedbird Ave. DPW site, where Ronald Silver II worked before he died. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)
As local temperatures flirt with 100º Richard Lord takes a break, wiping his brow while digging with other personnel of E2CR, Inc. as a passing vehicle waits for a traffic signal at Pratt Street near Howard Street. The geotechnical drilling company plans to test the foundational viability beneath the street for the proposed Red Line light rail project. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)

Overview

  • Baltimore’s Department of Public Works is continuing scheduled waste collection under an Extreme Heat Warning with heat indices forecast as high as 110°F
  • The department’s plan requires health checks, 15-minute breaks every two hours when the heat index exceeds 90°F and 10-minute breaks every hour at 100°F
  • Workers receive on-site hydration, shaded rest areas and training on heat illness symptoms as part of Maryland’s new protections
  • Maryland Occupational Safety and Health cited the DPW in March for serious violations after finding employees exposed to dangerous heat and humidity
  • Howard and Anne Arundel counties have moved trash collection to as early as 5 a.m. through summer months to limit crews’ heat exposure