Proposed Wildfire Smoke Regulation Prompts Questions

Companies in California may be tasked with developing policies and communication plans for protecting workers from wildfire smoke if a proposed emergency regulation takes effect, but the scope of the proposal remains unclear.

The Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California released its proposed Protection from Wildfire Smoke regulation, which outlines minimum air quality standards, communications and training requirements, and engineering and administrative controls for dealing with wildfire smoke. Based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index, which rates air quality from 0 to 500, unhealthy air from wildfire smoke is anything rated greater than 150 on the air quality index for particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

“This is an environmental problem that potentially impacts indoor air quality, and it’s not an easy solution to fix,” said Chris Spicer, managing director of industrial hygiene at Pennington, New Jersey-based WCD Group LLC, a subsidiary of Gallagher Basset Services Inc.