Pablo Ordaz spent the last days of his life working inside a metal barn where the temperature reached 106 degrees. Co-workers said his employer sometimes yelled at him for drinking water.

State regulators believe the heat overwhelmed him. Ordaz, a legal migrant worker, died after walking off the job and collapsing in an isolated patch of the Person County farm, hundreds of miles from his family in Mexico.

Ordaz's boss argued that he might have died of natural causes, but state officials say he is one of six farmworkers who died of heatstroke or suspected heatstroke in the past two summers. That's double the number of heat deaths in all the state's other industries combined during the same time.

In California, which uses far more farmworkers than the estimated 200,000 who come to North Carolina each year, five deaths in 2005 prompted a new state law requiring cool-off areas, breaks and training about heat sickness. In Washington state, one death in 2005 led to similar rules.

In North Carolina, the deaths -- four in 2005 and two in 2006 -- drew virtually no public notice. No state laws are designed to protect workers from heat illness.

Since 2005, there were three heat deaths in other industries, according to statistics from the state Labor Department. Two were employees at manufacturing plants and one worked for a tire service.

Advocates say that the circumstances of farmworkers -- many of whom come from the world's poorest regions, are desperate to feed their families, and cannot speak English -- make them more likely to work themselves to death.

"A lot of workers don't have a sense of security that they can stop and take breaks without losing their jobs or being deported," said Lori Elmer, a farmworker advocate with Legal Aid of North Carolina, which provides lawyers to the poor.

Farmers say not every case is negligence. Sometimes the worker is overweight or has a health condition that makes heat sickness worse. Sometimes a worker refuses to take breaks or rest in the shade. Many say they do their best to protect their workers, but the nature of the job sometimes makes long, hot days unavoidable.

Keith Parrish, a Harnett County tobacco farmer who employs nine workers from Mexico, said he provides plenty of water and, when temperatures soar, often starts his workers at 6 a.m. so they can finish before noon. But sometimes, he said, the tobacco has to be harvested, heat or no. He said he has never had a worker get sick from the heat.

"I just keep an eye on everyone and make sure nobody has that weird look in their eye," Parrish said. "But these guys are used to the weather. It doesn't seem to affect them as badly as it would me."

Regina Luginbuhl, head of the state Labor Department's Agricultural Safety and Health Bureau, investigates farm deaths. She said many who die haven't had a chance to get acclimated.

"These guys get off the bus and they start working all day," Luginbuhl said. "They are totally unprepared."

New on the job

In the three cases for which the Labor Department issued fines, two workers had started their jobs only two or three days before they died, and Ordaz had been in the field less than two weeks. All three were legal workers from Mexico.

Of the remaining three cases, one is still being investigated, and the others were outside the Labor Department's jurisdiction to issue fines. The department has authority to regulate farms only when the farmer provides housing and has more than 10 workers.

Advocates say the hazards of heat are made worse by a culture in which workers feel pressure to work quickly and are afraid to complain. Even if the farmer doesn't prohibit water breaks, some say, workers may avoid them to appear more productive.

Next page >