UPS Workers Injured or Killed Due to Heatstroke

/

UPDATE:

I don’t personally handle these types of cases, however, I would encourage all UPS employees to file a complaint with OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration).

UPS

August 2019

July was officially the hottest month on record, and in the scorching sun, UPS workers have convulsed, fainted and landed in the emergency room with heat-induced kidney failure, interviews and medical records show.Sixteen employees of the delivery company told a major news outlet they have suffered heat illnesses so far this summer, highlighting the continued hazards UPS workers face as workloads ramp up in record temperatures.

Cases against UPS have been filed on behalf of employees whose families allege their loved ones were killed by heat because UPS refused to air condition their trucks or warehouses or take other measures to allow workers to get out of he heat and cool down.

Last month, an NBC News investigation revealed that more than 100 UPS employees were hospitalized for serious heat-related injuries between 2015 and 2018, more than any other company in the country except the U.S. Postal Service. UPS, which has almost 400,000 employees, 74,000 of them delivery drivers, does not air condition most of its warehouses or its brown delivery trucks, whose cargo areas can reach 150 degrees, drivers said.

These situations are tragic and 100% preventable. Sadly, it is yet another case of a company putting profits over people. UPS workers who suffer heat injuries like this should all be covered by workers’ compensation insurance and they should put in a claim and contact a workers’ compensation lawyer near them. In the case of deaths, the family should seek out competent negligence attorneys to review the case. What an attorney will be able to do in such a situation will vary greatly from state to state.

I don’t personally handle these types of cases, however, I would encourage all UPS employees to file a complaint with OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration). The only way OSHA will move on these heat injury issues is if there is a concerted activity from hundreds of workers filing with the agency.