In response to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board's July 18th, 2019 vote and adoption of the emergency regulation, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) held an advisory meeting seeking input on the development of a permanent regulation for the protection of employees from exposure to unhealthy levels of wildfire smoke. Cal/OSHA held this advisory committee meeting on Tuesday August 27th, 2019 in Oakland.

At this advisory meeting, stakeholders and the public had an opportunity to provide input on information and scientific data on employee exposure to wildfire smoke, control measures, feasibility, or costs.

If you have questions regarding this meeting, please contact Deputy Chief of Health Eric Berg at (510) 286-7010 or Senior Safety Engineer Amalia Neidhardt at (916) 263-1944.

Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the draft regulatory text posted on August 13, 2019.

Meeting Documents

• Comments
• Meeting Transcript
• Agenda
• Draft Regulatory Text for Discussion - 8/13/2019

Handouts and References

• Steps to Develop and Occupational Health Standard
• Flowchart on "How to Participate in the Rulemaking Process"
• Liu C., Chen R., Sera F., Vicedo A., Guo Y., et al. Ambient Particulate Air Pollution and Daily Mortality in 652 Cities. N Engl J Med 2019; 381:705-715 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1817364.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Air Resources Board:
  • Wildfire Smoke A Guide for Public Health Officials, Revised 2019

In response to the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board's decision on March 21, 2019 to GRANT in part Petition No. 573, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) held an advisory meeting on May 8, 2019 in Oakland seeking input on the development of an emergency rulemaking proposal addressing worker exposure to wildfire smoke. For the latest status of the rulemaking, visit the Standards Board web page for New Section 5154.1.

Persons interested in receiving announcements and updates pertaining to the advisory meeting, and persons interested in providing information and scientific data on employee exposure to wildfire smoke, control measures, feasibility, or costs may contact Deputy Chief of Health Eric Berg at (510) 286-7010 or Senior Safety Engineer Amalia Neidhardt at (916) 263-1944.

Additional Drafts & Final Text of Emergency Regulation

• Final Text approved by OAL
• Draft Regulatory Text including both Appendices for discussion – 6/14/19 ( español 한국어 )
• Revised Draft Regulatory Text including both Appendices - 6/05/2019
• Draft Regulatory Text including both Appendices - 5/21/2019

May 8, 2019 Advisory Meeting Documents

• Meeting Transcript
• Post-meeting Comments
• Pre-meeting Comments
• Agenda
• Draft Regulatory Text for Discussion - 5/8/2019

Background Documents

• Petition 573
• Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, Executive Order N-05-19
• About the Emergency Rulemaking Process
• Flow Chart on Emergency Rulemaking
• Worker Safety and Health in Wildfire Regions
• Protecting Outdoor Workers Exposed to Smoke from Wildfires
• Protecting Indoor Workplaces from Wildfire Smoke with Building Ventilation Systems and Other Methods
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California Air Resources Board:
  • Wildfire Smoke A Guide for Public Health Officials, May 2016
• Sources of wildfire smoke and air quality:
  • US EPA Air Now.Gov website -
    • https://airnow.gov/
  • https://www.arb.ca.gov/html/ds.htm
  • https://www.arb.ca.gov/aqmis2/aqmis2.php?_ga=2.135095025.1782400740.1555103519-391911088.1491539847
  • http://californiasmokeinfo.blogspot.com
  • https://inciweb.nwcg.gov
  • https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=topics.smoke_wildfires
  • https://fires.airfire.org/outlooks
  • https://sites.google.com/firenet.gov/wfaqrp-external/home?pli=1

Handouts and References

• Title 8 section 3203, Injury and Illness Prevention Program
• Title 8 section 5140, Definitions
• Title 8 section 5141, Control of Harmful Exposure to Employees
• Title 8 section 5144, Respiratory Protection
• California Air Resources Board website. Inhalable Particulate Matter and Health (PM2.5 and PM10).
• California Air Resources Board website. Protecting Yourself from Wildfire Smoke.
• U.S. EPA. Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Particulate Matter (Final Report, Dec 2009). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-08/139F, 2009.
• U.S. EPA. Federal Register Final Rule- Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards Vol. 81 Wednesday, No. 164 August 24, 2016
• U.S. EPA. 40 CFR Appendix G_to_part_58 - Uniform Air Quality Index (AQI) and Daily Reporting.
• US EPA Air Now.Gov website. Air Quality Index (AQI) Basics
• U.S. EPA website. Wildland Fire Research: Health Effects Research.
• U.S. EPA website. Wildland Fire Research to Protect Health and the Environment.
• Joint Fire Science Program. FINAL REPORT. Wildland Fire Smoke Health Effects on Wildland Firefighters and the Public. JFSP PROJECT ID: 13-1-02-14 June 2017.
• Reid CE, Brauer M, Johnston FH, Jerrett M, Balmes JR, Elliott CT. Critical Review of Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke Exposure. Environ Health Perspect. 2016 Sep;124(9):1334-43. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1409277. Epub 2016 Apr 15.
• Wettstein ZS, Hoshiko S, Fahimi J, Harrison RJ, Cascio WE, Rappold AG. Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Emergency Department Visits Associated With Wildfire Smoke Exposure in California in 2015. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018 Apr 11;7(8). pii: e007492. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.117.007492
• Bernstein, R. Tuolumne County Health Officer. Air Pollution Hazards & Protective Measures in Wildfires 2019 Apr 15 Presentation
• Strosnider H, Chang H, Darrow L, Liu Y, Vaidyanathan A, Strickland M. Age-Specific Associations of Ozone and Fine Particulate Matter with Respiratory Emergency Department Visits in the United States. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Apr 1;199(7):882-890. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201806-1147OC
• Health Effects Institute. State of Global Air/2018: A Special Report on Global Exposure to Air Pollution and its Disease Burden