Former Fire Battalion Chief Michael Karl McNeil Warns Employers That Wildfire Smoke and Ash Are a Workplace Hazard Long After the Flames Are Out
Drawing on 25 years in the fire service, Michael Karl McNeil, REP, RIH, EPP, QSD, explains what California's wildfire smoke standard requires of employers and why burned-area cleanup and reentry carry exposure risks that smoke rules alone do not address.
Michael Karl McNeil, a Former Fire Battalion Chief and principal of McNeil Safety Consulting, is urging employers to treat wildfire smoke and the ash it leaves behind as a workplace hazard that lasts well beyond the fire itself. McNeil spent 25 years in the fire service, including incident command assignments on wildland fires across the Western United States, and now advises employers on industrial hygiene and Cal/OSHA compliance.
"On the fire line, everyone understands smoke is a hazard," said McNeil. "The gap is with the employers whose crews keep working downwind, and with the contractors who go into a burn area weeks later to clean it up. The exposure does not end when the fire is contained."
California is one of the few states with a standard written specifically for wildfire smoke. Title 8, California Code of Regulations, section 5141.1 applies when the current Air Quality Index for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is 151 or greater and the employer can reasonably anticipate that employees may be exposed. It does not apply to enclosed buildings with mechanically filtered air, enclosed vehicles with cabin air filters, employees exposed for one hour or less in a shift, or firefighters engaged in wildland firefighting.
Where the standard applies, employers must check the AQI for PM2.5 before and during each shift, communicate conditions to employees, train them using the content in Appendix B to the section, and reduce exposure where feasible through engineering and administrative controls such as relocating work or shortening time outdoors. Between an AQI of 151 and 500, employers must provide NIOSH-approved respirators, such as N95 filtering facepieces, for voluntary use and encourage their use. Above an AQI of 500, respirator use is required and must be carried out under Cal/OSHA's respiratory protection standard, section 5144.
McNeil said the larger blind spot is what happens after the smoke clears. Ash and debris from burned homes and businesses can carry lead, arsenic and other metals, and structures built before modern bans can release asbestos. Cleanup, demolition and restoration work in a burn area falls under the same lead and asbestos construction standards, sections 1532.1 and 1529, that govern any other job that disturbs those materials, along with Cal/OSHA's injury and illness prevention program requirement. "A smoke plan is not an ash plan," he said. "Crews doing debris removal and reentry work need exposure assessment, the right respirators, decontamination and hygiene practices, and supervisors who know what is in the material they are moving."
McNeil's fire service career began in 1989 and advanced from volunteer firefighter and reserve fire inspector to Fire Prevention Captain and Fire Battalion Chief, Prevention, with a federal fire agency. He holds California State Fire Marshal and National Wildfire Coordinating Group credentials and served as Incident Commander Type 4 on wildland incidents. He holds the Registered Environmental Professional (REP), Registered Industrial Hygienist (RIH) and Emergency Planning Professional (EPP) designations, is a Qualified SWPPP Developer (QSD), and is a Hazardous Materials Manager, HAZMAT Specialist and Incident Commander.
His fire service record is published at firefightermichaelkarlmcneil.blog and michaelkarlmcneilfirefighter.blog.
About McNeil Safety Consulting
McNeil Safety Consulting provides environmental health and safety, industrial hygiene, wildfire smoke and post-fire exposure assessment, Cal/OSHA citation defense and forensic and expert consulting to construction, manufacturing, healthcare, film and television, and energy clients. The firm is based at 9163 Arcadia Ave, San Gabriel, CA 91775. To request a consultation, call (626) 546-9384, email [email protected] or visit www.mcneilsafetyconsulting.com.
Media Contact
Michael Karl McNeil, McNeil Safety Consulting, 1 6265469384, [email protected], McNeil Safety Consulting
SOURCE McNeil Safety Consulting