This summer, Florida’s heat was more than uncomfortable — it was dangerous. With daily temperatures surpassing 90 degrees, outdoor laborers faced such suffocating heat that one farmworker collapsed and died.
The death wasn’t the first for Florida farms, we know, but the exact data has been reportedly muddled by farm owners — in 2024, a Tampa Bay Times investigation found that agricultural owners in the state had been underreporting worker deaths on the job by as much as half.
For the nearly two million Floridians who work outside, the sun’s intensity and the stifling humidity pose a threat to their health and safety during the summer months. From 2010 to 2020, there were 215 reported heat-related deaths in Florida. However, this statistic doesn’t encompass the array of adverse but not immediately fatal health effects the high temperatures cause.
When individuals are exposed to heat which causes them to sweat profusely, they lose electrolytes. Electrolytes are charged particles in the body like sodium, potassium and calcium, and are essential for vital bodily functions. As they collapse, whole systems start to collapse as well, with heat stroke next.
Dr. Ernesto Ruiz is the research coordinator for the faith-based nonprofit Farmworker Association of Florida. The organization seeks to bring awareness and advocate for farmworkers’ human rights. Its biggest research focus: heat stress. Ruiz said prolonged exposure to heat is one of the most prevalent occupational hazards that farmworkers face as these working conditions can cause chronic and acute kidney complications, headaches, fainting, exhaustion and even mental health issues.
Ruiz explained that people in other occupations may avoid the unforgiving temperatures of a heat wave, but farmworkers have no flexibility. It’s a situation that would be fine given farm owners who employ workers safely, but that’s not what’s happening according to Ruiz. Farm owners’ indifference to their workers’ health can have wide-reaching effects, he said.
“What seems to be at the forefront in terms of mental health concerns… is the fact that, oftentimes, what they’re enduring is preventable,” Ruiz said.. “Farmworkers will speak often about, ‘They treat us worse than dogs.’”
Despite their essential contributions to the nation’s food supply, farmworkers endure systemic exploitation — pressures that only intensify during the brutal summer months. The mistreatment of farmworkers is widespread, and not unique to the U.S. In 2020, an Economic Policy Report study found that, in the U.S., over 70% of the farm owner investigations by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division resulted in evidence of wage theft. Worse, for some farmworkers, their immigration status — even if they’re here legally — is important enough that they’ll never complain to authorities and avoid drawing attention to themselves.
In his conversations with the farmworkers, Ruiz has noticed that the farmworkers’ mistreatment dehumanizes them,
“It reinforces this idea that they have, that they are not valued, that they’re expendable, that their wellbeing doesn’t matter,” he said.
Though the laborers don’t generally use clinical language to discuss their experiences, they often report symptoms of conditions like depression as well as mental, emotional and physical exhaustion. Some feel tied down to their agricultural work despite wanting to leave, a feeling that Ruiz likens to claustrophobia. The listlessness of exhaustion can follow the workers home, impacting their ability to be present with their family.
“If you’re a parent, you’re trying to provide for your kids, you go home, you want to be present for them, you want to be in a good mood, you want to have energy to help them, and then when you’re exhausted and you can’t do that then they feel guilty, they feel sad because of that. And it just adds this negative feedback cycle where it impacts their mental health even more,” Ruiz said.
Agricultural work can also have long-lasting negative effects on the body aside from poor mental health. For example, suffering from an acute kidney injury caused by dehydration even once puts a worker at a higher risk for developing chronic kidney disease. Treatment for CKD can be debilitating and extensive.
According to Ruiz, farmworkers often use different idioms depending on their region to describe the lasting vulnerability they experience due to the severe heat exposure. One term he’s heard to describe this state is the Spanish word “picado.” This word normally refers to mosquito bites or being stung, among other definitions.
Laborers who are “picado” aren’t able to work as hard as they used to, Ruiz explained. This would be a disadvantage when working at any job, but the implications are heightened for farmworkers who are often paid on a piece-rate production basis, rather than hourly. Speed and endurance are linked to a farmer’s ability to maximize their earnings, so once they are physically weakened, their productivity drops and as a result, they may face verbal pressure from crew leaders or even risk not being hired back.
Ruiz knows of several farmworkers who cannot work on the fields anymore due to the ramifications of heat stress. He added that there is a significant amount of farmworkers who are undocumented, and so for them the threat of job loss is severe, as acquiring another job will be difficult.
“They’re not going to get hired if they don’t have papers. Or, they’re not gonna get hired in a job that has a human resources department where they can complain and stand up for their rights,” he said.
Even at their current jobs, conditions aren’t always ideal. According to Ruiz, some workers must bring their own water because the water provided at their job is dirty or makes them feel sick. Their piece-rate pay also discourages workers from taking a break and drinking their water.
“The workers tell us this. They say, ‘I know I should be drinking water to protect myself from heat stress, but if I drink water, then I’m gonna have to waste time to go to the bathroom, and then I’m not gonna earn as much money,’” Ruiz said.
Hourly workers often face disadvantages as well. Ruiz noted that water and transportation are parked far from the worksite for workers paid hourly. Workers believe this is intentional, making it virtually impossible for laborers to take breaks without losing valuable time and sometimes risking reprimand — some workers report that crew leaders or bosses will yell at them if they start walking toward the water.
Dehydration can occur within two hours of heat exposure, so opportunities to rehydrate are essential, especially when workers sweat. Ruiz reports that in his research, farmworkers generally don’t get breaks that align with the guidelines established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Dr. Coeurlida Louis Ashby, a physician in south-central Florida who specializes in lifestyle medicine, explained that in a heat index of 90 degrees, employers should provide a 10-minute break at least every two hours since that period is considered an excessive amount of time in the sun — though a good employer might provide a break every hour or hour and a half. As the heat index increases, more frequent, longer breaks are required.
Another crucial aspect of being safe in the sun is wearing the right garments. Ashby generally recommends workers wear “light, breathable-type material that is also UV-ray protective” so that the body can properly cool — but that’s not generally possible in the U.S.
Given excessive use of pesticides, workers often wear the opposite. To minimize pesticide absorption in their skin, which can be irritating and sometimes carcinogenic, workers wear long sleeves, long pants, bandanas to cover their face, hats, gloves and boots, Ruiz said. Workers are typically forced to choose between protecting themselves from pesticide exposure or staying cool in the extreme conditions.
Faced with these grueling conditions, said Ruiz, Florida’s agricultural workers are left with little choice but to endure.