A new independent investigation confirms that the Baltimore City Department of Public Works did not have a comprehensive heat safety plan or heat safety training for sanitation workers when worker Ronald Silver II died of heat sickness in early August.
Late Thursday morning Baltimore City officials released a 62-page report conducted by outside law firm Conn Maciel Carey that details findings based on worksite observations, policy reviews and interviews with 35 Bureau of Solid Waste workers in executive, supervisory and frontline positions. The report confirms previous statements from employees, unions, findings from city council hearings, and also corroborates details of substandard facilities as outlined in an ongoing investigation from the Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General.
Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat expected to win re-election in November, ordered the investigation after the death of sanitation laborer Ronald Silver II — an incident first reported by WYPR. Silver died on August 2nd, a day when Baltimore had issued a Code Red Heat Alert, meaning “real feel” temperatures were projected to feel like over 105 degrees Fahrenheit. According to a witness, Silver collapsed after complaining of being hot and in pain before he then died in the hospital.
“The release of this independent review marks an important inflection point in our effort to enhance workplace safety for all of Baltimore’s frontline workers,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott.
“The report from the outside law firm validates what we have said since the death of Brother Silver, the City doesn’t have basic heat and emergency protocols,” said Patrick Moran, president of AFSCME Council 3 which represents thousands of municipal employees including DPW. Moran noted that many of the firm’s recommendations are in line with demands the union has made for months now.
Maryland adopted an occupational heat safety standard in October but no federal or statewide heat plan was in place at the time Silver died.
No heat training or plan for emergencies
Conn Maciel Carey found that solid waste workers in the city’s Department of Public Works did not have a heat safety plan and had little to no heat training for workers. Before Silver’s death CMC found that the last heat safety training was conducted in 2022 and that was more in the form of a “safety talk” rather than full heat illness training.
This backs up what workers have told WYPR and somewhat contradicts statements made by DPW officials during an August hearing before the city council. Then interim DPW Director Khalil Zaeid told the council that the city had conducted trainings that did not include frontline workers, only supervisors. The training also didn’t get underway until after July 6th, although Baltimore experienced its first 2024 Code Red heat day in June.
Still, at the time Silver died, DPW didn’t have a way of assessing when to activate safety precautions.
“There were no special requirements or prohibitions that were triggered on high-heat workdays, insufficient guidance to supervisors and employees, inadequate training on the signs and symptoms of heat stress, and no established protocols for reporting and responding to heat-related illnesses events,” the report authors wrote.
Sanitation workers told investigators that they were not allowed to leave early on Code Red days as some city workers are allegedly allowed to do.
“Supervisors did not enforce cool down rest breaks and this operational practice created an incentive for the front-line workers to push through the work to finish as quickly as possible because they are permitted to finish their task work early and still be paid for their entire shift,” reported CMC.
Under the new Maryland heat standards, when temperatures exceed 90 degrees, workers must have ten minutes of cooled rest for every two-hours worth of work.
Employees did not know how to make use of available resources
The investigators found confusion among personnel, particularly supervisors, about what their duties were in the case of emergencies. On top of that, the report noted that there was no specific medical protocol for heat emergencies.
DPW does operate an emergency phone line, called Control One, but the use of that resource was applied unevenly and the firm found that workers across the board did not know it existed or how to use it.
“There does not appear to be any informational materials to inform employees about Control One nor its process for responding to emergencies,” investigators wrote.
“Supervisors told CMC that they believed it was the responsibility of frontline workers to account for their own safety and security.”
Most DPW workers rely on their personal phones for emergencies as radio communications systems are not required in sanitation trucks and as WYPR reported last month, Silver’s death could highlight a potential blindspot among emergency response in the sanitation industry.
Culture and facilities problems
The law firm found that infrastructure, including trucks and facilities, has not been “adequately” maintained. That would fall in line with findings from a series of investigative reports conducted by the Office of the Inspector General although the CMC report did not go into detail about building issues. The firm did note that in order to prevent heat illness, it is critical to have vehicles with climate control (i.e. air conditioning).
“While CMC noted that many DPW trucks have been updated, employees reported that older trucks may still be used,” the report authors wrote although, “CMC noted that it did not run testing on DPW vehicles.”
Most notably, investigators also noticed similar culture problems that union members have been decrying since August.
“Front line employees feel excluded, skeptical, and distrustful of management, and fearful of retaliation for raising safety concerns. According to both supervisory and frontline workers, DPW has not taken action to address safety and security issues that have been raised in the past to ensure that employees are protected from heat illness,” investigators wrote.
“Additionally, employees expressed skepticism that DPW will take adequate measures to improve heat safety in the future.”
Part of the problem, the firm noted, is that DPW hires and promotes from within but doesn’t provide adequate training, especially regarding employee wellness.
The supervisors that do try to enforce health and safety standards aren’t always met with a warm welcome; in one instance a supervisor reported being called a “bitch ass” by his reports for trying to address work-related safety concerns. Employees themselves were also reluctant to admit safety concerns, like reporting whether a co-worker was using substances on the job, because they feared the threat of verbal or physical violence.
Recommendations
In August, Baltimore City submitted a detailed heat safety plan to the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health department as is required now under the state’s new heat standard plan.
The firm laid out a number of recommendations for moving forward, some of which are already underway.
- Finalize Development of a Heat Illness Prevention Plan
- Enhanced Training and Clarification of Responsibilities
- Enhancements to DPW’s Fleet and Infrastructure
- Management and Leadership Training
- Culture
As one of their “culture” recommendations, CMC suggested better heat safety training communications, education around protections from retaliation and a safety ombudsman for DPW workers.
“We are committed to protecting our frontline workers,” said DPW Director Khalil Zaied. “The department has conducted a line-by-line review of the firm’s findings and is taking immediate corrective actions where feasible… These changes represent the first step toward improving our workplace safety culture.”
Some of those recommendations come at the frustration of AFSCME leadership, who have already made similar demands.
“Days after the tragedy we made clear demands that track with just about all the recommendations from the report. At what point is the City going to actually listen to its frontline workers?” said Moran, the state AFSCME president, in a statement to WYPR.
“The city owes AFSCME responses on records and our demands to make city workplaces, including DPW, safer,” wrote Dorothy Bryant, president of AFSCME local 44, in a statement.
Silver’s death is under investigation by the Baltimore City Police Department and the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health in the state department of labor.
Correction: An earlier version identified Dorothy Bryant as Dorothy Parker. The story has been updated.