MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – The Vermont State Employees’ Association is filing a workplace safety complaint after several correctional officers checked into the hospital with heat stroke symptoms.
It happened at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield during last week’s heat wave.
The officers were later released from the hospital but their union is filing a complaint with VOSHA.
State lawmakers allocated $5 million for new air-conditioning units, but those projects are still ongoing.
Union officials say they want better working conditions in Vermont prisons.
“They can’t keep moving at this slow pace to address fundamental concerns about the working conditions in state government and the Department of Corrections in particular,” said Steve Howard, the executive director of the VSEA.
We’re still trying to learn whether any inmates were impacted by the heat.
The Department of Corrections said in a statement that they are working to advance planning and funding for new AC units, and that they prioritize a safe and healthy environment for staffers and inmates.
Only two of Vermont’s prisons have air-conditioning systems.