This summer, record-breaking heat waves brought sweltering, triple-digit temperatures to cities across the country. Additionally, smoke from blazing wildfires has triggered air quality alerts, notifying residents that the air is hazardous to breathe. Yet millions of outdoor workers across the U.S. lack protections from extreme heat and wildfire smoke. As climate change intensifies extreme weather events, everyone’s health is at risk – but farmworkers are especially vulnerable. In the absence of federal standards, state protections are needed to safeguard farm and other outdoor workers.
How Heat and Smoke Put Workers at Risk
Extreme heat can have devastating health consequences. “When it gets hot outside, the way we cool down is by sweating,” explained Dr. Lisa Patel, Executive Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine. “But if it’s so hot outside that your body can’t cool down, then you’re at danger of heat illness and ultimately heat stroke.” Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths and can exacerbate other underlying health conditions like heart disease and diabetes. For people living with chronic lung diseases like asthma or COPD, high heat and humidity can make breathing even more difficult.
Farmworkers are more susceptible to heat-related illness and death, often laboring in intense heat with less access to shade and water. “Most farmworkers spend six or more hours a day outside, performing physically demanding work fully clothed in long-sleeved flannels, jeans, boots, bandanas, and wide-brimmed hats to protect themselves from the sun,” said Yaisy Villalobos, a student at California State University, Fresno who has worked as a farmworker since the age of 13. “I remember one summer I was picking grapes, and I felt like I was going to collapse from the unbearable heat. My body felt like it was shutting down.”
Research shows that agricultural workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat-related illness than workers in other industries, and outdoor workers’ exposure to days with a heat index above 100° is projected to quadruple by 2065.
Wildfire smoke can also have deadly impacts. Smoke contains a complex mixture of harmful particles and gases. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the primary health concern. These particles are so small they can enter the lungs and cross into the bloodstream. Exposure to wildfire smoke can trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks and even premature death. These effects can be compounded if workers return home to housing without air conditioning or air filters that don’t provide relief from heat or smoke.
Since they spend the whole day outdoors, farmworkers are at high risk for smoke exposure. Smoke from wildfires can travel thousands of miles downwind, impacting workers far from the source of a fire. When fires burn in urban areas, other harmful toxins like metals and plastic are added to the mix. Research on the long-term health impacts of smoke is still evolving, but mounting evidence suggests that repeated exposure to smoke can reduce lung function and cause cancer.
When hot and smoky days coincide, it becomes more difficult for farmworkers to protect their health. “We tell people to wear an N95 mask to protect themselves from wildfire smoke, but you can imagine if you’re outside on a hot day working in the fields – it’s high exertion, and wearing an N95 mask is going to be very tough,” said Dr. Patel. As wildfire seasons get longer and more intense, and extreme heat impacts more parts of the country, new strategies will be needed to protect workers from co-exposure to heat and smoke.
Additionally, even if they are alerted to the dangers, farmworkers often face pressure to continue working in hazardous conditions. “Fresno residents get alerts on our phones telling us to stay indoors because the air is too dangerous to breathe. But farmworkers don't have the option to stay inside,” said Yaisy. “We’re expected to be out there in the scalding heat and smoke, making sure the fruits and vegetables stay picked.” Other factors like lower incomes, lack of work authorization, and lack of access to healthcare can pose additional challenges.
What Progress Has Been Made on Workplace Protections?
In August 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a proposed rule to protect workers from heat-related health risks, including regular rest and water breaks. This came more than 50 years after experts first recommended a federal workplace heat standard in 1972. The Lung Association joined 86 health groups in calling for OSHA to swiftly implement the standard, and in June, OSHA heard testimony from over 300 participants at a public hearing on the proposed rule. However, the future of this rule is uncertain. Industry groups are currently lobbying the Administration to finalize a weakened version of the proposed rule.
A handful of states have issued rules of their own to fill the gap. Six states – California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado and Maryland – have an occupational safety standard for outdoor workers. Several other states, including Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Iowa and New Mexico, have active legislation or rules under development, and California is currently considering revisions to its heat and smoke workplace safety standards. A California law that took effect in 2025 also allows agricultural workers to use paid sick leave during weather emergencies.
Notably, outdoor workers may be at risk of heat-related illness even when conditions are below state heat protections. For instance, one study of workers’ compensation claims in Washington found that many cases of heat illness occurred below 89°F, the temperature above which the state’s heat rule requires paid, preventative rest periods.
As for wildfire smoke, in September 2024, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released a draft hazard review that summarized the research about the health effects of smoke and provided recommendations to protect workers. However, movement on a federal smoke standard has stalled, and sweeping staff cuts at NIOSH in 2025 meant the loss of many of the experts who worked on the hazard review.
Three states – California, Washington and Oregon – have adopted a wildfire smoke standard. However, even in states where there are rules in place, there are gaps. A 2025 study in Washington found that almost one-third of employers had not heard of the smoke rule. Over half had not received training on managing workers with smoke-related symptoms, and 40% had not received training on air quality monitoring.
In addition, workers note that employers often use intimidation and retaliation to stop workers from accessing protections. “I can’t stop working, because in the agriculture fields, we are under extreme pressure from our boss. We work despite the weather conditions,” recalled Yaisy. “People don’t speak up out of fear,” reported another farmworker interviewed in a 2023 study. “If you speak up, they will throw you out.”
More research is needed to improve real-time air quality monitoring near outdoor worksites, so employers can make informed decisions and workers can have accurate information about the air they’re breathing, noted Heather Riden, Program Director of the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at University of California, Davis. Research is also needed to assess the effectiveness of strategies that can best protect farmworkers’ health, such as the efficacy of disposable N95 respirators in real world agricultural settings. “Often times farmworkers are left out of conversations about what might make work safer,” said Riden. “They are the ones who are living it every day. The more we can bring farmworkers into that conversation, the better the outcomes will be.”
What More Can Be Done?
While health groups continue advocating for federal standards, in the meantime, states can take action to protect outdoor workers, including the following actions:
- Establish comprehensive workplace protections to safeguard workers from hazardous air quality and extreme heat.
- Expand training and education for workers and employers on the health risks of exposure to smoke and heat, and actions workers can take to protect their health.
- Improve air quality monitoring and surveillance near outdoor worksites.
- Invest in research to assess the long-term health impacts of wildfire smoke, the impacts of co-exposure to smoke and heat, and the efficacy of strategies to reduce exposures that incorporate input from outdoor workers.
Everyone deserves the right to a safe workplace. As climate-driven weather events like heat waves and wildfires intensify, commonsense safeguards are needed now more than ever to protect the health and well-being of farmworkers and other outdoor workers.
You can learn more about how to protect yourself in the Lung Association’s free, self-paced Climate and Health Basics online course.
Blog last updated: October 23, 2025
