Austin, Texas Approves Required Water Breaks For Construction Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/13940

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on July 29, 2010 - 3:22pm
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The city council of Austin, Texas passed an ordinance yesterday that will provide construction workers with a 10-minute water break for every four hours they are on the clock. Advocates of the water breaks pointed to a study by the University of Texas that found 41 percent of construction workers do not take rest breaks while working. OSHA regulations require construction companies to make water available for workers, but does not require that workers be given breaks to consume it.

[opihimoimoi]

1. every 4 hours??? should be every 2 hours....food every 4 hours....

[T Wolf]

2. The fact that this has to be mandated by law shows the moral bankruptcy epidemic in

American business practices.

I still remember my first summer job - working in a junkyard in southern Virginia. Only after my first day (initiation and all) was I told by the other workers that we were expected to take breaks to "get out of the heat and drink some water." That employer knew that it was a good "business" decision as well as a humane one.

I guess things have changed - and not for the better.