Baltimore City’s Department of Public Works is preparing for a possible pause in trash, recycling, and mechanical street sweeping Wednesday, as the National Weather Service predicts that the heat index could exceed 96 degrees.
The announcement comes less than a month after sanitation worker Ronald Silver II died of heat exhaustion while collecting the city’s trash. During an hours-long hearing before the City Council last week, sanitation workers condemned DPW leaders for being reactive when it comes to worker safety. Before Silver died, the Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General released a series of investigative reports highlighting unsafe conditions for DPW workers. The reports found workers lack adequate access to air conditioning and fluids, like water and Gatorade, at a number of DPW facilities, including the one where Silver worked.
