Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Cal/OSHA reminds employers to protect workers from wildfire smoke

Reprints
wildfires

California employers need to ensure they are taking steps to protect their workers from wildfire smoke, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health reminded employers in a statement Thursday.

With nearly two dozen wildfires burning in the state as of late Thursday, employers near those fires need to comply with Cal/OSHA’s emergency wildfire smoke regulation, which took effect in July 2019 and has been extended to early 2021.

“Employers are obligated to protect their outdoor workers and must evaluate the health hazards posed by wildfire smoke,” said Doug Parker, Cal/OSHA’s chief. “If employers cannot move operations indoors where air is adequately filtered and they do not have access to respiratory protection, they may need to halt operations until the outdoor air quality improves.”

Smoke from wildfires contains chemicals, gases and fine particles that can harm health, with the greatest hazard coming from breathing fine particles in the air which can reduce lung function, worsen asthma or other existing heart and lung conditions, and cause coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing, according to Cal/OSHA.

In areas where the current air quality index is labeled 151 or greater for airborne particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or where employers should reasonably anticipate that employees could be exposed to wildfire smoke, employers must check air quality indexes where workers are located at the start of each shift and take steps to mitigate exposure by relocating workers to enclosed buildings or locations where the air quality index is 150 or lower. Employers with air quality conditions above the threshold are required to offer workers respirators, such as N95 masks, and must also comply with Cal/OSHA’s respirator standard.

The agency noted that employers who move operations indoor or into enclosed spaces because of the wildfires must ensure they are also following guidelines for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace.

More insurance and workers compensation news on the coronavirus crisis here.

 

 

 

 

Read Next

  • Cal/OSHA fines ceramics firm after fatality

    The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health on Tuesday announced more than $250,160 in citations and penalties against Aardvark Clay & Supplies Inc. for its willful failure to properly guard equipment after an employee was fatally entangled in a clay manufacturing machine.