The Cal/OSH Standards Board unanimously approved emergency protections for workers exposed to wildfire smoke. It applies to workplaces where the Air Quality Index reaches 151 – unhealthy – and when employers “should reasonably anticipate” that employees may be exposed to wildfire smoke. Exempted are indoor workplaces and enclosed vehicles with filtered air, firefighters engaged in wildland firefighting, and employees with short-term exposure to the foul air (no more than one hour).

Employers will have to monitor their worksites during fire season to check for particulate matter 2.5, the pollutant of concern. Employers would then have to move workers to an indoor location with filtered air or move them to a location where the AQI is below 151. If that’s not feasible, they will have to provide workers with respirators, such as N95s, for voluntary use and train them on the new regulation.

Only in extreme situations – an AQI above 500 – will respirator use be mandatory. Cal/OSHA says such situations are “very rare,” as Division of Occupational Safety and Health Deputy Chief for Health Eric Berg says. But employer representatives say they are not as rare as the Division characterizes them.

See the Cal-OSHA Reporter article here for more information on the Standards Board decision and the steps required to formalize this as a law.