Oregon OSHA, furnished by Mike Hill, SAIF Corp.
What changed?
Nothing in the Oregon OSHA Wildfire Rule changed. Oregon OSHA just added a stamp for informational purposes only to notify employers if they are using the AQI for ease in monitoring smoke levels.
What changed?
Nothing in the Oregon OSHA Wildfire Rule changed. Oregon OSHA just added a stamp for informational purposes only to notify employers if they are using the AQI for ease in monitoring smoke levels.
The EPA changed how they calculate the AQI number for PM2.5 wildfire smoke at the area air monitoring stations.
Everyone in Oregon will just need to follow the new thresholds to be compliant to the wildfire rules. This chart explains it best:
Everyone in Oregon will just need to follow the new thresholds to be compliant to the wildfire rules. This chart explains it best:
When you follow the AQI for monitoring workers respiratory exposure you can gather that information from a couple of sources:
https://aqi.oregon.gov/
https://www.airnow.gov/
Threshold changes:
The AQI of 101 threshold did not change.
AQI of 251 is now 277.
AQI of 501 is now 849.
You can also use two other methods for monitoring air quality levels:
Direct reading instrument that measures particulate matter in PM2.5
Oregon OSHA also allows the visual method of determining visibility distances called the 5-3-1 Visibility Index and these correlate to the new AQI thresholds as well:
What did not change?
The Oregon OSHA rules did not change. If you use a direct reading instrument to measure smoke levels, the actual measurement of 2.5-micron particulate matter in micrograms per cubic meter threshold levels are still the same.
(The AQI is just used to help make this process easier by checking the EPA’s monitoring levels throughout the day)
Thresholds for ambient air concentrations for PM2.5 are:
At or above 35.5 µg/m³ (equivalent to AQI 101)
At or above 200.9 µg/m³ (equivalent to new AQI 277)
At or above 500.4 µg/m³ (equivalent to new AQI 849)
The protective value is still the same. The EPA just changed how they measure and publish their numbers.
Further Resource Links
Oregon OSHA Wildfire Smoke Resource Page: https://osha.oregon.gov/Pages/topics/wildfires.aspx
Oregon OSHA Wildfire Smoke rules: https://osha.oregon.gov/OSHARules/div2/div2Z-437-002-1081-protection-from-wildfire-smoke.pdf
Oregon OSHA Wildfire Smoke Fact Sheet with new table: https://osha.oregon.gov/OSHAPubs/factsheets/fs92.pdf
EPA information on the AQI updates: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/pm-naaqs-air-quality-index-fact-sheet.pdf
More Information:
If you’d like to learn more, SAIF just published an updated Wildfire Smoke online training resource on our website at:
https://www.saif.com/safety-and-health/topics/plan-for-emergencies/wildfires.html
The Oregon OSHA rules did not change. If you use a direct reading instrument to measure smoke levels, the actual measurement of 2.5-micron particulate matter in micrograms per cubic meter threshold levels are still the same.
(The AQI is just used to help make this process easier by checking the EPA’s monitoring levels throughout the day)
Thresholds for ambient air concentrations for PM2.5 are:
At or above 35.5 µg/m³ (equivalent to AQI 101)
At or above 200.9 µg/m³ (equivalent to new AQI 277)
At or above 500.4 µg/m³ (equivalent to new AQI 849)
The protective value is still the same. The EPA just changed how they measure and publish their numbers.
Further Resource Links
Oregon OSHA Wildfire Smoke Resource Page: https://osha.oregon.gov/Pages/topics/wildfires.aspx
Oregon OSHA Wildfire Smoke rules: https://osha.oregon.gov/OSHARules/div2/div2Z-437-002-1081-protection-from-wildfire-smoke.pdf
Oregon OSHA Wildfire Smoke Fact Sheet with new table: https://osha.oregon.gov/OSHAPubs/factsheets/fs92.pdf
EPA information on the AQI updates: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-02/pm-naaqs-air-quality-index-fact-sheet.pdf
More Information:
If you’d like to learn more, SAIF just published an updated Wildfire Smoke online training resource on our website at:
https://www.saif.com/safety-and-health/topics/plan-for-emergencies/wildfires.html
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