The wildfire smoke safety rules being considered by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries for the agricultural community would require farmers and ranchers to provide a respirator to all farmworkers or relocate workers if the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached a score of 69 or greater. The EPA considers an AQI of 69 to be “moderate,” noting that “air quality is acceptable.”

On June 18, the AQI in Pasco was recorded at 84 by airnow.gov, the website recommended by L&I for tracking the AQI. According to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which reports wildfire activity in Washington and Oregon during wildfire season, the nearest active fire on that date was in Maupin, Ore., approximately 169 miles to the south.

Given the benchmarks set in the proposed L&I rules, every farmworker in the vicinity of Pasco June 18 should have been given a respirator or been relocated elsewhere to continue working outdoors.

By comparison, California, the only other state in the country with wildfire smoke safety rules, does not mandate respirators or a change of location until the AQI has reached 151 or greater, the beginning of the level considered “unhealthy” by the EPA. Washington’s proposed rules would be more than twice as restrictive as California’s.

The respirators that would be required under the proposed L&I rules are National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 face masks with respirator pieces. The “best practices” listed in the proposed rules urge replacing the mask at the beginning of each shift. Surgical masks, scarves, and other facial covers are considered insufficient protection against wildfire smoke.

In addition to providing respirator masks on a daily basis, the proposed L&I rules suggest employers should govern personal farmworker choices like facial hair, which may impede the effectiveness of the respirator masks.

Farmworker safety is critical to the success of all farms in our state. The proposed L&I wildfire smoke rules are too restrictive in their current form, taking effect when EPA rules do not suggest any change in behavior.

Farmworkers and their employers would be better served by a slowing of the rulemaking process to take into consideration everything on the table before any new mandates are put in place.

The public comment period for the rulemaking is open until June 29. People interested in participating can add their thoughts here.