CAL/OSHA Emergency Rule Adopted for Wildfire Smoke

Author, Drew Garcia, Vice President, Landscape Group, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
Author, Steve Hamilton, Loss Control Supervisor, Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies.

On Thursday, July 17 2019, the California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board voted to adopt an emergency standard requiring employers to take action when air quality particulate matter measures greater than 150 and when there is reasonable expectation that employees will come in to contact with wildfire smoke. 

While this may seem new to many employers, it is technically an extension of regulations currently in place including the respiratory protection standards for employees and the need to address identified hazards in the workplace. As an employer it is critical that you follow the hierarchy of controls to ensure your employees’ safety in the field. If possible, eliminate the hazard by shutting down the workforce for the day. Employees should remain indoors until particulate levels fall to acceptable. If this is not possible, try to limit the workday by rotating employees who must work outdoors, remaining cognizant of the hazards in the air and allowing employee’s time to recover in appropriate indoor areas. If neither of these options are possible, consider providing N95 respiratory protection masks. 

Please remember that any type of respiratory protection provided to employees must also be accompanied by applicable training, pulmonary exams, communication on proper usage/storage and others. Links to the applicable programs can be found at this address along with sites to help you monitor air quality: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/Worker-Health-and-Safety-in-Wildfire-Regions.html

This site has additional training resources in English and Spanish, handouts on proper usage of N95 masks and the history of the standard as it has been submitted. Cal/OSHA wants you to have the resources you need to effectively address the risk potential.

At this point, the regulation is on its way to the Office of Administrative Law for approval and if deemed compliant, it will go into effect 10 days after it is received. This would mean the regulation could go into effect before August.

An advisory committee will meet August 27, 2019 to begin work on a permanent version of the regulation.

If you have any questions about ways to enhance regulatory compliance, please reach out to your local resources including your insurance agent, workers’ compensation insurance safety professionals, and Cal/OSHA Consultation.

Risk Management Center Streamlines Electronic OSHA Reporting

Author, Alyssa Burley, Client Services Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published on November 9, 2017 and has been updated to reflect the latest available information.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) now requires certain employers to electronically submit their completed Form 300A.  OSHA has created a website that allows employers to manually complete the information or upload a formatted CSV (comma-separated values) file. Users of Rancho Mesa’s Risk Management Center have the ability to track incidents and generate the export file, making the electronic reporting process quick and simple.

Check federal OSHA or your state's OSHA website for specific filing date deadlines.

Prepare and Submit

Once an incident occurs, Risk Management Center users track the details within the online system. All of the required information is stored and made available through reports and an export.

Request a Risk Management Center Account.

To export the OSHA 300A Report data, login to the Risk Management Center.  Then, navigate to the Applications list and click on Incident Track®.

From this screen, click on the Reports menu and click the Export Data option.  

Choose the report, “OSHA 300A Report” and select the export type a CSV. Choose the year and either all your sites or just one.  Click the Export button and enter your email address.

The .CSV file will be generated and emailed to you. Save the file on your computer so it can be uploaded to OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA).

To upload the .CSV file, login to OSHA’s ITA and follow the instructions on the screen.

Who is Required to Submit?

According to OSHA, “establishments with 250 or more employees are currently required to keep OSHA injury and illness records and establishments that are classified in certain industries with historically high rates of occupational injuries and illnesses.”  Some of those industries include construction, manufacturing, health and residential care facilities, and building services.

On April 30, 2018, OSHA announced State Plans have been informed “that for Calendar Year 2017 all employers covered by State Plans will be expected to comply. An employer covered by a State Plan that has not completed adoption of a state rule must provide Form 300A data for Calendar Year 2017. Employers are required to submit their data by July 1, 2018. There will be no retroactive requirement for employers covered by State Plans that have not completed adoption of their own state rule.

Cal/OSHA released a statement explaining that "even though California has not yet adopted its own state rule, employers are advised to comply with federal OSHA's directive to provide Form 300A data covering calendar year 2017." In addition, other states like Maryland, Minnesota, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Wyoming may follow California's lead.

For questions about tracking and exporting OSHA reports with the Risk Management Center, contact Rancho Mesa at (619) 937-0164