On May 10th, Oregon OSHA adopted the final rules for Heat Illness Prevention (effective June 15th) and Protection from Wildfire Smoke (effective July 1st). AOL worked with other industry representatives to advocate for employer needs and to try and amend the temporary rules into something more reasonable as permanent rules. OR-OSHA and the Governor's Office were unwilling to budge and the final rules are very similar to the temporary rules that went into place last summer.
Here is a quick look at both rules: The Heat Illness Prevention rule utilizes the Heat Index, a humidity-adjusted measurement. Worker protection standards begin at a Heat Index of 80, and increase in protective standards at a Heat Index of 90.
The Protection from Wildfire Smoke rule aims to protect workers from fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). Protections begin when the Air Quality Index value (AQI) has a value of 101 or greater, and have established increased worker protections at AQI of 251 and 501.
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