A 49-year-old man died as sweltering temperatures overtook New Jersey last July, NJ Advance Media has learned.
Union advocates and organizers with Make the Road New Jersey shared news of the death June 16, the latest in several fatalities linked to extreme heat nationwide and in a state gearing up for what’s likely to be another very hot summer.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, cited “Concrete and Masonry Builders, LLC” after the incident, tied to a residential construction site in Madison.
The company could not be immediately reached for comment and no public phone number was listed for the individual listed as the company’s owner. The owner also was not available when visited at his home.
On July 8, 2024, at about 2 p.m., a construction worker employed by the company — who was not immediately identified further by OSHA — was pouring concrete for the foundation of a home before he collapsed, federal regulators outlined.
The employee was experiencing “symptoms of heat stress and exhaustion due to high environmental temperatures. (He was) transported to a local hospital, where he died,” OSHA officials wrote in a citation of the company.
OSHA earlier this year cited the construction company, saying it did not protect employees on that day, when the relative humidity was 55% and the heat index surged to 95 degrees Fahrenheit as of 11 a.m. The actual temperature hit 93 that day, according to AccuWeather.
The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory July 8 last year as well as the following day.
The agency initially issued a penalty for more than $8,000, which appears to have been lowered to $5,000 pending finalization.
The day the worker collapsed before dying, the borough of Madison had opened cooling centers to provide relief from the heat. Local officials said concrete and asphalt temperatures are much warmer than the air. That “means when it’s 95 (degrees) outside, the concrete temperature is 140 and the asphalt temperature is 155,” town officials cautioned people in the area while asking them to limit outdoor activity.
New Jersey workers’ rights groups say they’ve grown exasperated over the years, reporting shortcomings in heat protections ahead of expected peak hot months only to learn more employees are exposed to grueling conditions, more people have been injured outdoors and indoors, and others have even died while on the job.
Heat exposure deaths and illnesses have been seen to increase significantly in recent years as climate change makes for even hotter days and weeks. Delivery drivers, warehouse workers, farm workers, construction employees and others have pointed to ongoing issues in workplaces throughout the U.S.
Last year saw the hottest summer on record and New Jersey is expected to hit triple digits this week.
The issue is even more challenging for workers living in the country illegally, who advocates say are less inclined to speak out despite blisteringly hot work conditions.
A New Jersey heat “standard“ is meant to enhance how workers are protected while on the clock, provide additional resources like water and give them more agency to report issues when temperatures rise past certain levels. But attempts to pass the legislation have been met with opposition from some business groups worried they are too broad or may come with unintended costs.
“As spring turned to summer last year, the legislature had the chance to pass legislation to protect workers from dangerous temperatures, but instead left for recess with New Jersey workers still unprotected,” said Diego Bartesaghi, with Make the Road NJ.
“Advocates warned that delay would be deadly, and that was the case.”
Three Amazon employees, all men from New Jersey, died at facilities in the state in 2022.
Rafael Reynaldo Mota Frias died on Prime Day at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Carteret, Rodger Boland died after falling from a stepladder and hitting his head in Robbinsville and Eric Vadinsky died at a delivery facility in Monroe. At least two of the deaths happened amid a summer 2022 heat wave.
Amazon officials previously called all three deaths “tragic” but denied heat contributed to them.
Referring to available OSHA data, state organizers previously said there were at least four heat-related “severe injuries” of UPS workers in New Jersey between 2020 and June 2024.
Citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Make the Road NJ said exposure to environmental heat killed more than 400 workers in the U.S. between 2011 and 2022.
Exactly how many total heat exposure deaths or serious illnesses resulted in New Jersey is less clear.
The state totaled about 181 heat stroke deaths between 2000 and 2020, according to Department of Health figures.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the employer of the 49-year-old man who died last summer did not report his death within the mandated 8 hours.
In addition to him, regulators said Concrete and Masonry Builders workers “were exposed to aggravating factors” while at the site based on the workload and exposure to the sun, inspectors summarized of the conditions.
Those exposures, OSHA noted, are tied to health problems like heat cramps, heat stress, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
In a notice online, OSHA said the inspection (linked to the violation) has not been fully closed. “OSHA citation items will be posted 30 days after the employer receives the citation, except in cases of significant public interest,” it said.
OSHA this month has kicked off public hearings on a proposed first-of-its-kind rule to prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths at work. This has been in the works for about four years.
Critics of New Jersey’s heat regulations — which have to pass both legislative bodies before the governor can consider signing the proposal — have pointed to the federal rule’s progress. That rule would, like the state iteration, give rest breaks and provide water for workers when temperatures surpass specific thresholds.
President Joe Biden put forth the broader OSHA rule last summer.
However, President Donald Trump — who has supported deregulation in other departments and has implemented policies that have worked against concerns linked to climate change — does not have to adopt it.
18 Community Place in Madison, site of a heat-related death of a worker while under construction in 2024. 06/20/2025Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advance
Stories by Steven Rodas
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Steven Rodas may be reached at srodas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @stevenrodas.bsky.social.