Cal/OSHA updates fire cleanup guidelines
Employers performing cleanup work following the recent Los Angeles and Ventura County fires are subject to California’s workplace safety and health regulations, according to the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The state workplace safety and health agency recently updated its guidelines for fire cleanup.
The safety hazards of fire cleanup include demolition, electricity, excavations, fire and fire byproducts, flammable gases, hauling vehicles, sharp or flying objects, tree work, and unstable structures. Health hazards include asbestos; ash, dust, and soot; carbon monoxide poisoning; hazardous liquids and other hazardous substances; and heat illness.
Applicable state standards include the state’s regulations on general safety precautions, electric shock, and injury and illness prevention programs. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a set of recommended practices for safety and health management programs but no injury and illness prevention program standard.
Cal/OSHA also has employer guidance for respiratory protection during fire cleanup, as ash, dust, and soot can be disturbed during cleanup and could be inhaled. The agency recommends that cleanup employers use feasible engineering controls to ventilate and provide filtered air to indoor work areas, as well as a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum, when cleaning ash, dust, and soot. Employers also must provide and ensure employees use properly fitted, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified air-purifying respirators.
After a power outage, electrocution hazards can occur as power lines are reenergized and electrical equipment is turned back on. Cleanup employers should only allow qualified electrical workers to work on or near downed power lines and restore electrical power. Employers also should only allow qualified line-clearance tree trimmers to perform tree-trimming operations near energized power lines. Other cleanup workers shouldn’t be allowed to perform any work near energized high-voltage lines. Overhead electrical power lines should be considered energized until a utility company verifies the lines aren’t energized and the lines are visibly grounded at the worksite.
Cleanup employers should never assume fire-damaged structures or buildings are stable. Buildings may be structurally damaged or weakened and can collapse without warning, so employers should take precautions, such as assuming all stairs, elevated floors, and roofs are unsafe until inspected and not allowing any work to be performed in or around any fire-damaged structure until it has been examined and certified that it’s safe for work by a registered engineer or another qualified person.
The state agency cautioned employers that while “household domestic service” (child care, cleaning, and cooking performed for a family) isn’t covered by the state’s safety and health standards, fire cleanup work is covered by the agency and its regulations. Fire cleanup work includes ash and debris removal and cleaning of fire-damaged structures, which aren’t household domestic services.
Household domestic workers are also covered when performing work other than child care, cleaning, and cooking, such as fire cleanup and home reconstruction.
The agency also reminded employers it’s illegal to direct an employee to enter or remain in an area subject to mandatory evacuation orders. Workers also have a right to leave or refuse to report to work in a disaster area if they believe it’s unsafe to remain. Under the state’s antiretaliation provisions, it’s illegal to take action against an employee for refusing to work in unsafe or unhealthy conditions.