USA: UPS driver allegedly forced to work despite suffering from a heat-related illness hospitalised after crash
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"North Texas UPS driver crashes after passing out from heat", August 19 2024
A North Texas UPS driver is out of the hospital after passing out from the heat and the truck crashing.
...According to the UPS driver's union, Teamsters Local 767, the driver was suffering from heat-related illness when he lost control.
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The union says the driver who is based in the Longview area was asked to help out on Friday, driving from the UPS facility in McKinney. He left around noon but after a few hours, he started vomiting and feeling ill from the heat.
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But the union says his manager told him to drive the truck back to the facility. They say that goes against UPS' own heat safety protocols and that the manager should've called 911.
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We reached out to UPS for comment who told us they care deeply for the driver's well-being and will be working with authorities to investigate what happened.
They say they spend more than $400 million annually on safety training and have also:
- added more cooling equipment to facilities and vehicles
- provided employees with specialized cooling gear
- provide access to ice and water
But according to Teamsters Local 767, UPS promised that all new vehicles purchased this year within their jurisdiction would be air-conditioned but Reeves says as far as he knows none of them have A/Cs.
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