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The nationwide heat wave has been hard on construction workers. Many of them work hourly and can't afford not to. Noor Nazir with WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina, visited a home construction site to see how workers are coping.
(SOUNDBITE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS DIGGING)
NOOR NAZIR, BYLINE: The sun is beating down on a large house being built just north of Charlotte. Four workers move around the outside, digging, drilling and painting, all as temperatures hover in the upper 90s. Tim Marsh is on a ladder, holding a roller with yellow paint. Every few seconds, he wipes sweat from his forehead, pauses to catch his breath, then keeps painting.
TIM MARSH: This week, I've been getting off and going home and going right to sleep. It has been affecting my body a lot, but, you know, just keep pushing.
NAZIR: Marsh has worked on the team for the last eight years. Although today he's painting, other days, he does concrete work, he says, during a break. It's his favorite construction job. But in heat like this, it becomes one of the hardest things to do.
MARSH: You can't take no breaks when you're pouring concrete. You got to get it down there, and get the job done. But you got to also pace yourself.
NAZIR: Everyone here says they're drinking a lot more water in the heat. Matthew Bryce is the crew leader on this site. He says he has three kids, a mortgage and bills to pay. That is why, even on days when the heat is brutal, he still shows up.
MATTHEW BRYCE: It's rough when it's super hot. There's not much you can do.
NAZIR: He says on days like these, they all look out for one another because they know the sign for exhaustion and heatstroke.
BRYCE: If your body's telling you you need to take a break, you need to take a break. You don't keep working through it 'cause that's where it gets dangerous. And if you do stop sweating, that's the biggest problem.
NAZIR: He says workers are used to pushing themselves in tough conditions. But that attitude can also be dangerous.
BRYCE: I had to take people and set them down in the shade and give them a break 'cause they try to keep working through it, and it's not good.
NAZIR: Only seven states have laws on heat safety standards for workers. They include things like mandated shade, breaks and water, depending on temperature. North Carolina isn't one of them. On the federal level, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (ph) addresses excessive heat only as part of overall workplace safety. In North Carolina alone, more than 250 people visited emergency rooms during the first week of the heat wave at the end of June. Michael Fitch is an emergency room doctor with Atrium Health.
MICHAEL FITCH: Folks that are going to be out working in the heat, and they're certainly at risk because they may not have the luxury that some of us have of being able to take breaks whenever they want.
NAZIR: He says besides hydrating, people should wear light clothing, wear sunscreen and just take breaks in the shade.
(SOUNDBITE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKER PAINTING)
NAZIR: Back at the construction site, the work goes on. Marsh is still outside, wiping sweat from his face and getting up on a ladder to paint. He knows he's doing this hard work for a reason.
MARSH: As long as I'm coming back home safe, that's all that matters.
NAZIR: This week, the heat wave is expected to break in Charlotte, but there are still a lot of hot summer days ahead.
For NPR News, I'm Noor Nazir in Charlotte.
(SOUNDBITE OF TOKIMONSTA'S "ETERNAL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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