United States: A sanitation worker in Baltimore, Ronald Silver II, died last Friday because of extreme heat. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner assures that he died from overheating. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and DPW Director Khalil Zaied expressed their condolences, saying their thoughts are with Ronald’s family, friends, and colleagues as they deal with this tragic loss.
Heatwave Hits Baltimore
As reported by USA Today, silver was still working in the Barclay neighbourhood of the northeast Baltimore late in the noon of August 2 when he collapsed.
Emergency medical service personnel were dispatched to the scene and the silver was taken to nearby hospital where he passed away.
The day before silver died, the Baltimore City Health Department issue a Code Red Extreme Heat Alert for all city residents and the temperatures in the city reached as high as 99 degrees.
Nationwide Heat Advisories and Response
Roughly 104 million people around the country were also under heat advisories that day.
On Monday, the public works department reiterated its commitment to keeping employees safe.
The department also said that it would be pausing trash collection services on August 6 and having all employees attend mandatory heat safety training sessions.
On Tuesday morning, several Baltimore City Council members met with Baltimore city union employees calling for improved safety measure for city employees.
“What’s clear is that Brother Silver and his colleagues were not guaranteed safe working conditions, a clear violation of our union contract,” AFSCME Maryland Council 3 said in a statement on Monday. “This should be a wake-up call to the leadership of the Department of Public Works that changes need to be put in place as soon as possible and that our members’ health and safety needs to be taken seriously.”
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