California Wildfire Smoke Rule Pushes Use of N95 Respirators

California worker safety regulators are pushing forward with a rule to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke by using N95 respirators despite the shortage of the tight-fitting nose and mouth covers due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board released the proposed rule April 3 and set May 21 as a hearing date.

An N95 respirator “is the minimum level of protection for wildfire smoke,” the proposed rule says. Surgical masks, scarves, T-shirts, and bandannas won’t provide protection against wildfire smoke. But N95 respirators have been in short supply since February as health-care providers and people concerned about their own well-being began using the respirators to avoid inhaling the coronavirus.

A temporary emergency wildfire smoke rule was enacted in July 2019 and has been renewed twice while work on the permanent rule continued.

The proposed rule is largely unchanged from the emergency rule. It drops an earlier idea to set a more strict air quality threshold for when employers would have to take action.

Air Quality Factors

Air quality is determined by measuring the amount of airborne particles 2.5 micrograms and smaller per cubic meter. The federal Environmental Protection Agency along with California agencies provide online regional and local air quality measurements and forecasts.

The EPA considers air quality between 101 and 150 “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Above 150, air quality is considered unhealthy for everyone.

The proposed rule maintains the emergency rule’s trigger point at 151 or greater. A discussion draft version of the rule has suggested setting the level at 100.

Employers would have to assess the air quality at the start of each shift.

The proposed rule also clarifies employers don’t need to provide respiratory protections for indoors workers if a building’s ventilation system is equipped with a filter, windows are kept closed, and doors are opened only to enter or exit the building.

Workers in vehicles with filtered air-conditioning systems and employees who spend less than an hour outdoors per shift are also exempted.