FACTSHEET

WORKER PROTECTION
FROM WILDFIRE SMOKE
CAL/OSHA WILDFIRE SMOKE STANDARD 2021

Valley Fire moving downhill into Middletown, CA. during a high school girls soccer match
between the Middletown Lady Mustangs and the St. Bernard’s Knights from Eureka, CA.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: commons.wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Valley_Fire_9-12-2015.JPG.

SCHOOL ACTION FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH

Labor Occupational Health Program, University of California, Berkeley

Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation
 WORKER PROTECTION FROM WILDFIRE SMOKE
CAL/OSHA WILDFIRE SMOKE STANDARD 2021

California’s recent wildfire seasons have confirmed

fears of worsening fire conditions that have become a These symptoms can include:
year-round threat. Increasingly, workers in the path of
wildfire smoke have been the focus of concern given • Irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat
the health impacts of exposure. In December 2018, • Difficulty breathing
worker advocates in the state urged the California
• Asthma attacks
Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/
OSHA) to take measures to address this growing • Chest pain
worker health threat. • Persistent cough, phlegm, and wheezing

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards

Board voted to adopt an emergency temporary Particulate matter can also cause more serious long-
standard to protect workers, including school term health problems, such as reduced lung function,
employees from exposure to wildfire smoke. The chronic bronchitis, worsening of asthma, heart failure,
temporary standard went into effect on July 29, and early death.
2019 and became a permanent standard with minor
changes in February 2021. The Standards Board’s Adults over 65 years of age, children, and individuals
website has the documents from the adoption of with pre-existing health conditions are at higher risk
Cal/OSHA’s Protection from Wildfire Smoke for wildfire smoke-related health problems.
standard: dir.ca.gov/OSHSB/Protection-from-Wildfire-
Smoke.html. Definitions

AQI Air Quality Index. An index that

How does wildfire smoke
indicates air pollution concentration
affect health?
levels and associated health concerns.
Wildfire smoke includes chemicals, gases and • Real-time AQI for any location in the
tiny particles that can travel through the air over U.S. is available at: airnow.gov
long distances and affect the health of workers
impacted by the smoke. These particles are made
PM2.5 Particles (or “particulate matter”)
up of whatever is being burned – not only plants
suspended in the air with a diameter of
and vegetation, but also remnants of residential
2.5 micrometers or less — about 30
or commercial structures, vehicles, industrial or
times smaller than the thickness of
household chemicals, and other unknown materials.
human hair. The small size of PM2.5
Many of these particles are so small they are invisible
particles allows them to reach deep
to the naked eye. Individuals may experience health
into the lungs and even enter the
symptoms if they breathe in these smoke particles.
bloodstream.

School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) Program 2

 WORKER PROTECTION FROM WILDFIRE SMOKE
CAL/OSHA WILDFIRE SMOKE STANDARD 2021

When are employers required to What protections does the

take steps to protect workers? emergency standard provide?

The California protection from wildfire smoke

standard is in effect when the current AQI (air quality When the AQI for PM2.5 is 151 or higher,
index) for PM2.5 at the worksite is 151 or higher due employers at school districts and
to wildfire smoke. An AQI of 151 indicates that the other work sites are required to:
air is “unhealthy” for everyone to breathe. Employers
must monitor air quality using publicly accessible • Communicate with school employees
forecasts and current AQI data for PM2.5 or by about current AQI PM2.5 at the school or
directly measuring PM2.5 levels at the school facility/ worksite and the potential symptoms of
campus or worksite with their own device according wildfire smoke exposure.
to Cal/OSHA’s standard.
• Provide training on the health effects of
wildfire smoke, protections available,
250
200 300 and procedures for obtaining medical
150 350 treatment.
100 400
• Reduce school employees’ exposure
to wildfire smoke by providing enclosed
50 450
building or vehicles with filtered air,
0 500 relocating work where the AQI or PM2.5
is lower than 151, changing work
GOOD MODERATE UNHEALTHY UNHEALTHY VERY HAZARDOUS
FOR SENSITIVE
GROUPS
UNHEALTHY schedules, lessening work intensity, and/or
accommodating longer rest breaks.
Photo: Cowaymega

• Provide respirators (NIOSH-approved

Who does the wildfire smoke N95 filtering facepiece respirators) and
encourage their voluntary use.
standard apply to?
• As currently written, the wildfire smoke
The wildfire smoke standard applies to both outdoor standard requires respirator use along with
and indoor school employees and other workers who mandatory fit testing for school employees
may be exposed to a current AQI for PM2.5 of 151 if the AQI for PM2.5 exceeds 500.
for more than one hour per day, even if they are not (Respirators must be used in accordance
directly impacted by fires. This may include: with Respiratory Protection standard 5144:
dir.ca.gov/title8/5144.html). For more
• School Personnel • Landscapers and
information visit: dir.ca.gov/dosh/dosh_
• Construction Workers Gardeners
publications/ respiratory-protection-fs.pdf
• Agricultural Workers • Day Laborers and
Domestic Workers
• Utility Workers
• Warehouse Workers

School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) Program 3

 WORKER PROTECTION FROM WILDFIRE SMOKE
CAL/OSHA WILDFIRE SMOKE STANDARD 2021

Place straps
against head

Check
face seal,
tighten
nose clip

Shave
facial hair

The mask should Next Steps

feel snug all around
your face • Cal/OSHA’s Section 5141.1, Protection from
Wildfire Smoke, protects outdoor school
employees from wildfire smoke. For more
information visit: dir.ca.gov/title8/5141_1.html.
Photo: dir.ca.gov. Image shows proper
• The hazards don’t end when the smoke clears.
fitting of respirator. Image for demonstration
For safety during the cleanup and rebuilding after
purposes only, proper training is required,
wildfires visit: dir.ca.gov/dosh/worker-health-and-
per Cal/OSHA Title 8, Section 5144. See:
safety-in-wildfire-regions.html.
dir.ca.gov/title8/5144.html

To download this and other LOSH factsheets, visit: losh.ucla.edu/resources-2/fact-sheets/

This factsheet was developed by the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH).
These materials are part of the School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) administered by the
Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation in the California Department of
Industrial Relations through an interagency agreement with the Labor Occupational Health Program at
the University of California, Berkeley.

© 2021 State of California DIR Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation.

School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) Program 4