In July 2024, AP News published an article outlining the risk of heat exposure for greenhouse workers. The article describes research highlighting the dangers of prolonged heat exposure, particularly when combined with high humidity. For example, the research found greenhouse workers in India who laboured in the middle of the day had an average working heart rate 20% higher than those in open fields.

The article highlights labour rights abuses at AppHarvest in the USA. The farm’s use of greenhouses was considered a ‘climate solution’, but workers laboured in dangerous heat inside the greenhouse facilities and became ill due to exposure to extreme temperatures. The article underlines how ‘high-tech’ greenhouse-based farms, while touted as a climate solution, often “miss the importance of working conditions”. AppHarvest did not respond to the journalist’s request for comment. See here for further reporting on AppHarvest.

The articles highlight how there is a growing number of greenhouse and nursery workers in the USA, but a lack of legislation protecting workers from the heat at the federal level. The Washington Post also emphasises the heightened vulnerability of greenhouse workers amid the use of subcontracting in the industry, which fractures responsibility for working conditions. AP News further highlights how migrant H-2A workers are particularly vulnerable, as they are often less able to complain about extreme heat conditions. The findings also show how workers who do not get enough breaks, or who work in the middle of the day in summer, or whose managers ignore their concerns are most at risk.