On January 7, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued a wildfire smoke alert in response to the Palisades Fire’s impact on air quality in Los Angeles County’s Pacific Palisades area. The state agency reminded California employers of their duty to protect workers from the health effects of wildfire smoke.

Cal/OSHA’s wildfire smoke standard requires employers to monitor air quality, adjust work practices, and provide N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) for voluntary use. The standard also contains training requirements.

The agency outlined the standard’s requirements, which include the following:

• Monitoring air quality: Employers must monitor the Air Quality Index (AQI) for particulate matter (PM2.5) before and throughout a work shift. Air quality can be tracked through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) AirNow website or California’s local air quality management district websites. Employers can also use their own instruments to measure PM2.5 at worksites.
• Where the AQI for PM2.5 is above 150, employers must provide respirators to all workers and encourage workers to use them.
• Where the AQI for PM2.5 exceeds 500, respirator use is required.
• Evacuation zones: It’s illegal in California for employers to retaliate against workers for refusing to work in unsafe conditions, including in evacuation zones.

Wildfire smoke contains chemicals, gases, and fine particles that can harm health, according to Cal/OSHA. Breathing in PM2.5 can cause coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, and reduced lung function and can worsen asthma or other existing heart and lung conditions.

There’s no corresponding federal wildfire smoke standard.

Cal/OSHA cites Safeway for safety hazards at warehouse

Cal/OSHA cited Safeway for safety violations that put approximately 1,700 workers at risk of serious injuries at the company’s Tracy warehouse, the grocery chain’s largest facility in the nation, the agency announced January 7.

Cal/OSHA cited Safeway with 27 violations, including 8 serious violations, after a comprehensive inspection of Safeway’s Northern California Tracy Distribution Center. The agency proposed penalties totaling $182,000.

The agency’s high-hazard industry inspection found issues that included:

• Manual material-handling injuries: Safeway failed to identify and fix issues related to lifting, carrying, and moving heavy items and didn’t train supervisors or workers effectively on these hazards.
• Recordkeeping violations: The employer failed to ensure the accuracy of its annual employee injury and illness summaries or promptly provide Cal/OSHA with injury and illness records for review.
• Indoor heat hazards: Safeway failed to establish and maintain effective measures to address indoor heat hazards in the warehouse’s dry building, which isn’t temperature-controlled, and failed to train employees on the hazards of indoor heat. The company also failed to provide workers access to proper “cooldown” areas during meal breaks.
• Chemical and health hazards: The employer provided inadequate ventilation or exhaust systems for employees welding in two buildings, risking exposure to toxic substances. In multiple work areas where employees interacted with corrosives, access to eyewash stations and safety showers was deficient.
• Electrical hazards: Inspectors found the facility had multiple damaged electrical cords and unsafe electrical panelboards.
• Training for industrial truck operators: Safeway failed to provide refresher training and evaluations for industrial truck operators to ensure operators had the skills needed to operate trucks safely.

“It is critical that employers recognize the physical demands and potential dangers faced by warehouse workers and take measures to protect their safety,” Cal/OSHA Chief Debra Lee said in a statement. “Our inspection revealed that Safeway’s demanding warehouse quotas put its workers at risk of serious injury.”