Eastern Canadian wildfires have ravaged more than three million acres of our northern neighbor’s land. The effects have not obeyed borders, with smoke and air pollution traveling south and negatively impacting the air quality within the Northeastern United States. Though the fires have burned for months, air quality advisories remain in place and some areas are dealing with the worst air quality in decades.
These fires, and their resulting poor air quality, raise significant concerns for the workforce. That said, many companies are too slow to adopt policies to protect their workers from this crisis. This is likely because these fires come hot on the heels of the pandemic, and organizations are hesitant to re-introduce work-from-home flexibility and undo the return-to-office progress that has been made.
But moving slowly will only cause greater problems beyond poor employee health (which will in turn cause employees to leave). Regulation is already coming that requires employers to take steps to protect their employees from deteriorating air quality.
Regulations Relating to Smoke Exposure
The threat of unhealthy air quality has caused regulators to take action. This past June, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offered additional information to protect workers and ensure a safe work environment. This additional information included the following protective measures related to smoke exposure:
If your employer is requiring that you put yourself in harms way to be in the office, and you are wondering how to refuse to return to the office, pointing to state and local regulations is a great way to stand your ground.
What Can Be Learned From Wildfire Smoke In NYC And California
By all accounts, it appears poor air resulting from fires is a problem likely to stick around for years to come. CNBC reports that wildfire seasons are getting worse. From 1982-1992, the national wildfire ten-year average was 2.5 million acres each year. The more recent 10-year average is 7.7 million acres each year – roughly the size of Maryland. Thus, employers would be smart to read the tea leaves, wise up, and begin implementing solutions that protect and empower employees.
Fortunately, there is a wealth of examples to choose from. Employers should look to what organizations, like Google, have done in New York to protect their workers from poor air quality while still allowing them to get the work they need to get done. Google told its east coast employees to stay home as wildfire smoke smothered major cities. Fortunately for the tech giant, it had learned from its experiences with California fires and had technologies and protocols ready and available to quickly make working from home a possibility. Other companies were able to do the same given the tools leftover from the pandemic.
Simple solutions could be providing respirators for employees to use and work from home flexibility. More complex solutions are improving ventilation systems in office buildings and adopting technologies that allow work to be accessed from wherever necessary. If you are wondering what you can do to protect your employees during wildfire season, look at what organizations similar to yours are doing right now in New York City.
And for employees, your health and safety are critical, and you should make sure your employer is following the laws within your state meant to ensure you have a safe working environment. After all, why return to the office if it will jeopardize your health? If your employer is not working to keep you safe, it may be worth looking for an employer that will.
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