She s also having workers spend more time under cover inside the farm s processing shed where produce is washed in refreshing water and the cooler sits at an inviting 40 degrees a full 62 degrees lower than the noontime temperature in town.
Washington and California are the only states with laws protecting outdoor workers in hot weather.
Among those rules: employers must have a specific heat exposure prevention plan. Annual training is required for employees and supervisors for signs of heat-related illnesses. Also, additional water and time to drink it must be provided.
Farm manager Madeline McGonagle said, on the farm, you re not just operating on nature s clock, but nature s thermometer, as well.