Oregon wildfire smoke employer requirements
OAR 437-002-1081 employer duties from PM2.5 35.5, with required filtering facepiece use at 200.9.
Oregon writes its wildfire smoke rule in PM2.5 concentration, in micrograms per cubic meter, not in AQI. Duties begin at PM2.5 35.5, filtering facepiece use becomes mandatory at 200.9, and a full respiratory protection program is required at 500.4. Recording an AQI value on an Oregon site leaves the rule unevaluated, because the thresholds have no AQI equivalent written into them.
Takeaways
- Record the right metric for an Oregon site: PM2.5 concentration, not AQI.
- Say what changes at 35.5, at 200.9, and at 500.4.
- Tell the difference between offering a respirator and requiring one.
- Set up a shift-start exposure assessment that produces a record rather than a memory.
Why the metric matters more than the number
The three PM2.5 tiers
The exposure assessment that starts every shift
When the rule does not apply
Frequently asked questions
- What AQI does PM2.5 35.5 correspond to? Under current EPA breakpoints, PM2.5 of 35.5 sits near the bottom of the AQI 101 to 150 band. The conversion moves when EPA revises breakpoints, which is exactly why Oregon wrote the rule in concentration and why the log should carry concentration.
- Do I need fit testing at PM2.5 250? No. Required use starts at 200.9, but the full respiratory protection program with medical evaluation and fit testing starts at 500.4. Between those two numbers the mask is mandatory without the program.
- Is voluntary use of an N95 by itself a respirator program? No. Voluntary filtering facepiece use is specifically carved out from most of the respiratory protection standard. You still have to supply the respirator at no cost and explain proper use.
- Can I use a single reading for several nearby sites? Only if it is genuinely representative. Smoke concentration varies sharply over short distances during a fire event, so a shared reading across sites in different valleys is hard to defend.