The heat that is blanketing much of the country can be difficult for anyone who has to spend long hours outside in the blazing sun.
One delivery driver is proof of how dangerous it can be.
A UPS driver collapsed at the door of a home where he had to drop off a package last week.
The home’s owner shared the video to highlight what he said the extreme heat did to the driver.
Brian Enriquez said the camera footage showed the driver struggling to walk and then collapsing when he got on the porch.
Enriquez said he didn’t see what happened in real time. Instead, he watched the footage after the driver had left.
“I was concerned for the fact that he was coming, stumbling to the door,” said Enriquez. “Had I gotten to my phone sooner, I could have talked to him through my Ring [doorbell] but he had already left the property at that point.”
Enriquez did reach out to Scottsdale police for a welfare check and then tried to get in touch with UPS to tell them that one of their drivers was having trouble.
UPS public relations told KPNX that the driver did contact his manager who helped him.
“We never want our employees to continue working to the point that they risk their health or work in an unsafe manner,” UPS told KPNX.
Enriquez told the television station that he hopes his video will push delivery companies to make sure that the drivers have air conditioning in their vehicles.
This isn’t the first time that delivery drivers have been impacted by a heat wave.
Back in 2019, NBC News spoke with 16 drivers who said they suffered heat-related illnesses. An NBC News investigation showed that more than 100 UPS employees had to be hospitalized for serious heat-related injuries from 2015 to 2018.
Last month, a driver in Pasadena was found unconscious after falling off the seat of his truck, his family told KTLA. Esteban Chavez Jr. died. His parents told the news station that it was the high heat — over 90 degrees — on June 25 that contributed to his death.
“Everyone knows, it is pretty hot out there, those trucks are a hot box. They have all these guys running around, delivering packages and trying to meet their quotas and do their jobs,” Chavez told KTLA.
UPS has responded to the allegations. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our driver Esteban Chavez, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” UPS’ statement to KTLA said. “We are cooperating with the investigating authorities and are respectfully deferring questions about this incident to them.”
©2022 Cox Media Group
