Wildfire Smoke Worker Protection Rule Enacted in Washington

As wildfires break out across the U.S. Northwest, Washington state Friday enacted an emergency rule protecting workers from exposure to smoke from the blazes.

The rule, which took effect immediately, requires employers—when air quality falls below safe levels for exposure to airborne particulates spawned by burning wood—to provide N95 or similar respirators to outdoors workers for voluntary use or move work indoors or to a less hazardous time.

“This wildfire season is shaping up to be even worse than last year,” the director of Washington’s Department of Labor and Industry, Joel Sacks, said in written statement. “We’re establishing these ...