Report: High Injury Rate for Clean Energy Workers

A newly released report indicates a high injury rate for clean energy workers in Texas.

The report, which was created and released by the Texas Climate Jobs Project, Cornell University and a movement called Organized Power in Numbers, says one in four survey respondents reported either seeing or experiencing a work-related injury.

The study examined working conditions of 1,224 people working in the solar, wind and clean energy manufacturing sectors in Texas. Researchers collected data via phone and digital outreach, and they also physically visited more than two dozen solar, wind and manufacturing sites throughout the state to interview workers.

Many Clean Energy Workers Report Injuries

In addition to the high percentage of workers who reported seeing or experiencing a work-related injury generally, 6.4% of solar and wind workers reported witnessing a fatality on the job site.

The survey results indicate that heat-related illness is a big problem in the industry. In fact, 43% of survey respondents reported that they have personally experienced a heat-related illness. Not surprisingly, workers who said that they had access to breaks or water were less likely to report that they had experienced a heat-related illness.

More specifically, for example, 25% of manufacturing workers who did not get water breaks suffered a heat-related illness, while just 15% of workers who did get water breaks suffered a heat-related illness.

Of workers in the solar industry, 47% said that they have experienced a heat-related illness. In addition, 21% of those workers reported that they did not get rest breaks.

Another notable finding: 70% of respondents reported that they were not covered by workers’ compensation insurance.

More Notable Clean Energy Worker Findings

Other notable findings include:

• Nearly half (48%) of solar workers reported experiencing a heat-related illness.
• More than a quarter (26%) of solar workers said they saw or experienced an injury.
• 7% of solar workers saw someone die on the job.
• 60% of onshore wind workers said they experienced a heat-related illness.
• 40% of onshore wind workers said they experienced an injury.

The survey producers recommended that the development of a federal heat safety standard should be expedited. In addition, they said employers should be required to have workers’ compensation insurance.

Here is the full study on clean energy worker safety.