California Employers Getting First Test of Wildfire Smoke Regs

California’s raging wildfires are testing the state’s new emergency smoke protection standards for workers as employers respond to unhealthy particulate levels in the air.

The unique-to-California emergency regulation adopted last summer requires employers to provide respirators to workers, communicate and educate workers on how to use the masks, and alter schedules when fine particulate matter reaches certain levels. Add to that requirement California’s law mandating every employer have an employee illness and injury prevention plan, or IIPP, and employers are on notice that they must update their compliance strategy.

Where the smoke regulation applies, “I think you absolutely need to ...