It's no longer a question: Summer temperatures in the U.S. are rising, and the heat is clearly taking its toll.

There are more than 67,000 heat-related emergency room visits each year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. On the job, there were 344 worker deaths in the U.S. attributed to heat exposure in 2011-2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The true number could be far higher because such deaths could be under- or misreported.

These grim facts are among the reasons attorneys general in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania moved in February to protect working people from the dangers of rising temperatures by asking the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an emergency temporary heat standard.

"[E]xtreme workplace heat poses a grave danger to the health and safety of tens of millions of outdoor and indoor workers in our states and across the nation," they wrote, declaring that "an emergency temporary standard is necessary to abate and protect workers from the grave danger of extreme workplace heat."

The urgent action is needed, the attorneys general argued, because while federal regulators are trying to come up with a permanent heat standard — with input from unions including the IBEW — it could take years. This "[leaves] millions of outdoor and indoor workers exposed to dangerous levels of heat in the interim," they said.

Safety Director David Mullen is one of the people working on defining that standard, part of a committee that's been tasked with developing the American National Standards Institute's draft A10.50 Heat Stress Standard, which aims to address basic concerns such as acclimatizing workers to heat, assessing risk, action-level triggers, emergency action plans and training.

"Heat stress is a complicated subject, especially for our linemen, because different environments throughout the country and how they affect each individual makes it very difficult to write a blanket standard," Mullen said.

For many members of the IBEW — especially those who work in the union's southern portions — high outdoor temperatures can be the norm almost every day of the year, not just in summer, Mullen added.

"Coming up with a baseline standard at least gives us a step to build on," he said. "Our challenge is also coming up with a standard that's simple and enforceable."

There are 75 voting members on the ANSI committee, with 17 representing unions. "We're at the table with the AFL-CIO and the Building Trades, doing our best to make sure that discussions don't get into standards that can affect employment status," he said. "There's enough stuff now that results in people losing their jobs already."

A draft of the proposed A10.50 standard goes to the full ANSI committee soon, with a possible vote early next year, Mullen said. But, considering the document's complexity — not to mention the inevitable resistance from the industries that will be affected by the new standard — an OSHA heat standard could take up to 10 years to get finalized. "It's a long road," he said.

Meanwhile, 27 states and territories have taken more immediate action on their own to protect workers from heat-related issues. For example, last year in Oregon, officials rolled out a mandate to provide workers with shade, breaks and water when temperatures climb above 80, and longer breaks along with increased monitoring and person-to-person check-ins when it gets above 90. California and Washington state have enacted similar policies.

Editor's Note: Safety Director David Mullen retired from the IBEW effective June 2. See his Transitions story.

When Mike Finn, a retired journeyman from Portsmouth, Ohio, Local 575, first found out about the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program, it didn't seem urgent. But eventually he signed up, and it may have saved his life.

"I didn't jump on it at first, but then my friends were doing it, so I thought, 'Why not?'" Finn said. "I'm glad I did, because we probably wouldn't have found it without the screening," Finn said of his diagnosis of berylliosis, which is a result of inhaling beryllium, most likely from his time working construction at a nuclear site.

Often, health problems from work don't arise until years later. That was the case for Finn, who worked for a number of contractors.

"The work was fine. Just regular construction work. But we didn't know exactly what we were working on," he said.

Finn isn't alone in finding out about health complications from past work at nuclear sites. Joe Cousineau, a retired member of Denver Local 68, worked for a contractor at Rocky Flats for three years in the '90s. It was good, steady work at a time when there wasn't much else going on, and it paid a lot of overtime. Plus, the workers rarely went through the barbed-wire fence, where the greater danger was.

"It was a pretty good gig," Cousineau said. "And we didn't get near the real stuff. We didn't want to."

Both Finn and Cousineau took advantage of the Building Trades National Medical Screening Program, or BTMed. It's a free medical screening that's available to former construction workers who were previously employed at Department of Energy nuclear weapons sites. In some cases, participants can even be eligible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation.

Started in 1996, the program is administered by the Center for Construction Research and Training, also known as CPWR, the health and safety research center of North America's Building Trades Unions. The test is available at more than 225 sites across the country, and eligible people can get the screening once every three years.

"We're proud to administer a program that has served building trades workers all across the country for more than 25 years. It's through BTMed that construction workers who worked on a DOE site can monitor their health. And their health is our number one priority," CPWR Executive Director Chris Cain said.

Those who worked at DOE sites may have been exposed to hazards like asbestos, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, silica or various solvents, which can cause cancer and other serious, even fatal, health problems. A common condition that can occur is lung disease from breathing in dust, fumes, vapors or gasses. When these substances are inhaled, they can affect the lungs in two different ways: airway obstruction or scarring of the lung tissue. The BTMed screening is designed to look for possible signs of these symptoms as well as other health issues so patients can catch them early and get treated as quickly as possible.

"The exam is better than what you get from a regular doctor," said Gary Hom, a retired Augusta, Ga., Local 1579 member who now works as an outreach coordinator and work history interviewer for the program. "It's way more thorough."

BTMed has provided over 44,500 medical screening exams and 9,150 low-dose CT scans to former DOE construction workers, and more than 6,500 of those exams and 1,150 of the CT scans have been for electricians. Among the electricians who received a chest X-ray, 17.5% were found to have changes consistent with pneumoconiosis, a type of lung disease caused by inhaling certain dust particles like silica and asbestos. And for the electricians who had a lung function test, 41.8% were found to have abnormal results.

Hom said that a lot of people are afraid to find out whether they have something serious and put the test off.

"You need to know," Hom said. 'It's two hours every three years. Isn't that worth it for your health?"

Some workers may also be eligible for compensation. Separate from the BTMed screening, the compensation program is run by the Department of Labor. It provides payments and medical benefits to qualified workers who were diagnosed with conditions including radiogenic cancer, chronic beryllium disease, beryllium sensitivity or chronic silicosis as a result of exposure to radiation, beryllium, or silica while employed at covered DOE facilities.

For those who qualify, they are given what's called a "white card" that covers any treatment needed for the accepted condition. In Finn's case, he found out he was eligible for $150,000 in compensation, plus the white card.

"It covers anything related to my beryllium exposure," he said. "And the process itself was pretty straightforward."

Hom noted that another benefit of the BTMed screening is that the doctors can see changes in participants over time.

"Years ago, we didn't know the dangers of asbestos and beryllium and all that. And it can take a long time for symptoms to show up," Hom said. "It's better to catch it early."

The screening consists of two steps: a work history interview and a medical exam. In step one, a specially trained building trades worker conducts the interview to find out whether the participant came into contact with any hazardous materials. In step two, the participant receives the free medical exam to test for work-related health conditions, as well as any other health problems. Following the exam, the participant receives a letter indicating any medical findings and assistance with referrals for further care.

In Cousineau's case, the screening turned up something that may not have been related to his time at Rocky Flats but still required medical attention. During one of his CT scans, the doctors noticed something in his liver, so they referred him to his primary doctor, who then sent him to an oncologist who found a small tumor. Cousineau was treated with radiation and put on a systemic anti-cancer regimen. Now there's no sign of cancer, and his liver is functioning normally.

"The only reason any of this worked is because of that screening, which caught the cancer early," Cousineau said. "It probably saved me, and it was free and convenient."

Cousineau, Finn and Hom all stressed how easy it is to get the screening, and to get one as early as possible.

"Take advantage of it," Cousineau said. "It could save your life."

To find out more about the free screening, including how to get one, go to www.btmed.org or email btmed@btmed.org. You can also call 1-800-866-9663.