Baltimore city garbage and recycling crews may suspend service Wednesday after a worker died in sweltering heat earlier this summer.
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The Baltimore Department of Health issued a red extreme heat alert Wednesday, with temperatures in Baltimore expected to rise from 77 degrees at 6 a.m. to 96 degrees at noon and to 101 degrees around 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. The heat index, which measures how hot the air is and how uncomfortable people may feel based on temperature and humidity, is expected to hit 106.
“To protect our sanitation workers, crews will begin work earlier when temperatures are cooler,” the Department of Public Works said on social media. “If it gets too hot, we will suspend operations and resume when it is safe to do so.”
Baltimore worker on-the-job deaths as heat toll rises
The department added that trash, recycling and street sweeping would resume on the next safe working day, but did not respond to a request for comment on the shutdown body temperature threshold.
On Aug. 2, when temperatures reached 99 degrees, 36-year-old DPW worker Ronald Silver II died from the heat while begging for water on a city resident's porch, the medical examiner said. A report from the city's inspector general in July before Silver's death said air conditioners at DPW facilities and trucks were broken and workers were not provided with enough water, ice and fans. Last week, city councilors questioned DPW officials about workplace safety.
