Baltimore City Council members and a union group representing city employees will call for new safety measures on Tuesday in response to the death of a Department of Public Works employee who died on the job Friday after overheating.
Ronald Silver II, a worker with the department's Bureau of Solid Waste, collapsed Friday afternoon in the Buckley neighborhood of Northeast Baltimore after spending a day in a DPW truck. .
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Monday that Silver died of hyperthermia, a heat-related illness in which body temperature rises too high. The office ruled Silver's death an accident.
The Baltimore City Health Department has issued a red extreme heat alert for Thursday through Saturday. On Friday, the temperature reached 99 degrees.
DPW officials announced Monday that trash and recycling collection will be suspended citywide Tuesday to allow DPW employees to participate in mandatory heat safety training. Employees across the department will receive guidance on the signs of heat-related illness. Residents collected Tuesday will have a makeup day on Saturday, a news release from DPW said.
Also on Tuesday, committee members will gather with union representatives for a news conference calling for additional safety measures for DPW workers and facilities where poor working conditions were recently investigated by the Office of the Inspector General.
Representatives of AFSCME Maryland Council 3 said Monday that leaders have spoken with Silver's family. He works at the city's Western Health Site on Reedbird Avenue.
“As we gather more information about the circumstances surrounding our union brother's death, we mourn this loss,” the union said in a statement. “None of the measures previously put in place to keep our members safe are ineffective. Management We need to take the health and safety of our members more seriously.
City officials did not disclose Silver's age.
City resident Gabby Avendano told The Baltimore Sun last week that Silver rang the doorbell shortly before collapsing on the porch.
Avendano said she was so shocked to see Silver that she immediately closed the door. She vaguely heard him calling for help and saying “wait, wait” before he collapsed in front of her house. She asked him if he wanted water, and he responded, “'Pour on me,'” she said, before calling 911.
Avendano said she first called 911 at about 4:08 p.m., and she called a second time at 4:10 p.m. and was told help was coming. At 4:18 p.m., Avendano called a third time, and the operator advised her to put Silver down and start chest compressions. Neighbors helped her get him to the concrete in front of her home, but when chest compressions began, he started vomiting. She said firefighters arrived around 4:23 p.m. and performed CPR on Silver, who was quickly taken to the hospital.
Unofficial reports from Avendano indicate that response times to Sliver may be longer than the city median. Baltimore's median EMS response time, reported regularly to the Baltimore City Council, was about six minutes over the past year. It's unclear when the official response to the incident will be.
Avendano said Silver's co-workers told her that Silver had been complaining of pain in his legs, chest and hands all day and couldn't get out of his truck to do the job, so his co-workers needed to do it for him this matter.
Mayor Brandon Scott and DPW Director Khalil Zaied issued a joint statement Saturday confirming Silver's death.
“Our thoughts are first with him, his family and loved ones, and his DPW colleagues as we grapple with this loss,” they wrote. “The administration and DPW leadership have been in constant contact with the Silver family and we ask that To protect their privacy and respect, that of their friends and the entire DPW community during this difficult time.”
Neither the government nor the Democratic Workers Party commented further.
Silver's passing comes amid heightened concern about conditions at DPW facilities. Last month, the Baltimore Office of Inspector General released a report detailing poor working conditions at DPW facilities, including keeping workers, many of whom labor outdoors, cool and hydrated during hot summer months. Subsequent reports include details from other sites.
According to the July 10 report, the inspector general's investigation of the Cherry Hill plant where Silver worked found broken ice machines, hot water flowing from cold water faucets and HVAC systems in locker rooms that were not working properly. Throughout the investigation, similar issues emerged at other facilities. The report also noted that many of the trucks observed during the site visit did not have air conditioning.
The Scott Administration has committed funding for improvements to several DPW facilities. More than $18 million of the city's capital budget has been allocated to three health facilities: the Western Health Site on Reedbird Avenue, the Southeast Health Site on Kane Street and the Eastern Health Site on Bowley Lane. All three projects have design and construction timelines of three years, according to reports presented to City Council in January.
The city's capital budget has allocated an additional $3.2 million to improve health and safety within the DPW. The department also received $1.4 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for facility improvements.
Baltimore has been slowly replacing its aging fleet of garbage trucks, but the process has been slowed by supply chain issues. Scott said the city had received 20 of the 80 new trucks ordered as of March when curbside recycling resumed. He reported that “dozens more” were on the way. Unlike many of the replacement trucks in the city's existing fleet, these replacement trucks are equipped with air conditioning.
During DPW's June budget hearing, at least one council member investigated the department over reported safety concerns. Councilman Zeke Cohen said he often hears stories about safety issues and unsanitary conditions at the city’s solid waste and wastewater facilities.
Deputy Chief Richard Luna said department officials are having conversations about safety “almost every day.” He praised the department’s solid waste chief and said he has placed a special emphasis on safety since joining the department.
Cohen said he would like to see rank-and-file employees in the department participate in the discussion. “There's a difference between what I'm hearing from frontline workers and what I'm hearing from management,” he said.
Baltimore Sun reporters Angela Roberts and Dana Munro contributed to this article.
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