Safety Committee Alert: Managing Wildfire Smoke and High Heat

When wildfire smoke and high heat overlap, safety teams need to evaluate both hazards together—not trade one risk for another. New guidance from the GBA Safety Committee outlines practical steps for managing these dual hazards:

Wildfire smoke is creating hazardous conditions for outdoor workers across much of the Midwest and Northeast United States. Air quality alerts are in effect in many areas as smoke from Canadian wildfires drives elevated PM2.5 levels and unhealthy air conditions.

Smoke and heat create a difficult balancing act: Poor air quality may make N95s or other respirators necessary to reduce smoke exposure, but wearing a respirator can increase breathing resistance, make workers feel hotter, and contribute to heat strain—especially during physically demanding work in summer conditions.

When smoke and heat come together, neither hazard can be managed in isolation. Instead:

• Where possible, move tasks indoors, postpone non-critical work, or reschedule work to cooler parts of the day when the risk posed by heat and smoke tend to ease.
• Adjust work/rest schedules based on the combined risk of smoke and heat and increase hydration and cooling opportunities.
• Educate your team on early signs of both heat illness and smoke-related symptoms and encourage early reporting.
• Monitor both AQI and heat conditions throughout the shift.
  • For AQI: https://www.airnow.gov
  • For heat conditions: https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/Applications/HeatRisk

The key lesson: Look at the whole picture and don’t let controls for one hazard unintentionally increase risk from another.