A few years ago, things weren’t always going so well for garbage and recycling workers in the city of Rockville, the county seat of Montgomery County, the largest county in Maryland.

Jamie Sydykov, a safety and risk manager in Rockville, remembers heat becoming a major problem in the late 2010s.

“It was common for someone to get a call through the dispatch center that someone was suffering from heat stress. We would then respond either by calling 911 or with the help of our crew supervisors,” Sydykov recalls.

In one year, the team reported five heat incidents despite having fewer than 30 cleaning staff. Rockville’s Safety and Risk team decided to create a comprehensive heat safety plan before the situation took a deadly turn.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report This extreme heat kills over 1,200 Americans each year, making it the deadliest weather event. this monthRonald Silver II, a Baltimore garbage collector, died of hyperthermia, or heat stroke, while working as a garbage collector. His death sheds a harsh light on the approximately 43 workers across the country who die of heat exhaustion at work each year, according to To Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Silver, like millions of other workers, unprotected from a federal or state-specific workplace heat standard.

Businesses and communities like Rockville must now take action themselves. The City of Montgomery’s plan outlines a number of different precautions that must be taken for different heat index triggers.

“We have acclimation procedures that come into effect. If someone hasn’t been here before or is new for less than two weeks, we keep a special eye on them. They also don’t have to work all day. They work part of the day,” Sydykov explained, noting that the teams rely on part-time and temporary workers to complete the routes. This means that people who are not used to physical labor in high heat are regularly entrusted with the work and therefore, Sydykov said, need extra protection.

On very hot days, she says, supervisors would intercept workers on their route to check on them and give extra water and electrolytes to teams who need it.

Training is crucial, says Sydykov, and crews must first be taught how to recognize heat illness.

“We thought that was a really important aspect because they’re two-man teams, they’re on a truck… They’re out there. They’re really the first line of defense, they recognize there’s a problem and then they take action,” she said.

Another element is the change in the perception of the workers themselves. Sydykov does not call them system-relevant workers, but industrial athletes.

“These people are physically challenged every day, no matter what the weather is like outside. It’s nonstop hard work. And you have to make it clear to them that you’re an industrial athlete and you should treat yourself as such. You know you have to be in top shape.”

Rockville’s heat policy is constantly evolving based on worker needs and new information, she says.

Other nearby communities such as Prince George’s County, Washington DC and York, Pennsylvania have all mandated earlier work starts in the summer of 2024 so that work can be completed by the hottest times of the day.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Ranks Garbage collection and waste management are considered one of the deadliest industries, due in part to car accidents and biohazards. The BLS has not released data on heat-related deaths, although Silver’s death earlier this month shows that extreme heat is a danger.

In an interview with WYPR’s Tom Hall, Mayor Brandon Scott signaled he was open to change, but did not provide details because he respected Silver’s family.

“As someone who has spent a lot of time working outside in temperatures like this, I know that at some point we have to get to the point where we just have to have really serious conversations about the work itself,” the mayor said.

Meanwhile, Baltimore rented an independent law firm based in Washington, Conn Maciel Carey, to review the Department of Public Works’ safety policies. This firm has a Story Defending employers whose workers have died and lobbying against proposals for a nationwide heat standard.

The department says it has conducted several training sessions on heat illness this year, but has not provided information on whether these were mandatory or how many employees attended.

“These trainings have reinforced our heat safety protocols and trained employees to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat stroke and related illnesses. This year alone, we have conducted eight trainings, including our most recent on August 6, 2024. In some cases, multiple trainings were held to accommodate the maximum number of employees,” DPW spokeswoman Mary Stewart wrote in a statement to WYPR.

On the day of his death, Silver reported pain in his leg and chest: a common sign of heat illness. Despite this, Silver was urged to finish his shift, according to a neighbor who had cared for Silver before his death.

After Silver’s death, workers, unions and city officials alike sentenced a toxic culture of harassment at DPW. One worker, Stancil McNair, has reported being forced to work after suffering a stroke and being disrespected by management after being threatened with gun violence in the workplace in another incident.

Marcus Odorizzi, the Rockville safety and risk manager who wrote the heat plan, says the success of their policy absolutely depends on a culture of support. Management, employees, unions, everyone was involved in creating it.

“We don’t want to create safety programs that we write down and no one follows. We want to incorporate feedback from stakeholders because that’s the best way to get buy-in and make sure we’re actually following what we put on paper,” Odorizzi said.

And in Rockville, the security measures seem to be working. Despite historic Heatwaves Despite temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, the community has not reported any cases of heat illness this summer.