Wildfire smoke plan for a restaurant: checking the AQI, the patio, delivery drivers and the California, Oregon and Washington rules
Smoke days don't look like an emergency. The sky turns orange, the patio smells like a campfire, and service goes on. Meanwhile the server running the patio, the cook working by a back door propped open for air, and the driver on a bike are breathing it for eight hours. California, Oregon and Washington have written rules for exactly this, with numbers that trigger them, and the steps are a sensible plan anywhere smoke reaches.
This post covers how to check the air, who on a restaurant team is exposed, what California, Oregon and Washington require, and a plan and shift log to fill in.
General information, not legal advice. The rules below are each state's own, from the pages linked; if you're elsewhere, ask your state's OSHA plan what applies. Medical questions go to a doctor; in an emergency, call 911.
Check the right number
The Air Quality Index has six categories: Good (0 to 50), Moderate (51 to 100), Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101 to 150), Unhealthy (151 to 200), Very Unhealthy (201 to 300) and Hazardous (301 and up). An AQI of 50 or below "represents good air quality", and "When AQI values are above 100, air quality is unhealthy: at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as AQI values get higher" (EPA AirNow: AQI basics).
Two details matter for the rules:
- Use the AQI for PM2.5, the fine particles in smoke, not the overall AQI. California's rule applies when "The current Air Quality Index (current AQI) for PM2.5 is 151 or greater, regardless of the AQI for other pollutants" (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 5141.1).
- Use the current reading, not yesterday's. California's rule says the current AQI is also called the NowCast. Washington's rule works from the hourly PM2.5 concentration, and accepts the NowCast AQI from the state department of ecology, a local clean air agency or EPA as an approximation (WAC 296-820).
California lists where to get it: "U.S. EPA AirNow, the Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program, the U.S Forest Service, the California Air Resources Board, the local air pollution control district, or the local air quality management district" (§ 5141.1(c)(1)).
One more: in May 2024, EPA updated how it calculates the AQI. Oregon OSHA says its own requirements, which are set in micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter, "are not changing", but some AQI numbers that trigger them moved (Oregon OSHA fact sheet FS-92). If your plan uses AQI numbers, check them against your state's current rule.
Who on a restaurant team is exposed
Job | Exposure | Usually covered? |
|---|---|---|
Patio servers, bussers, hosts at an outdoor stand | Outdoors for the whole shift | Yes, when the trigger is reached |
Cooks with a back door or window propped open | Smoke comes inside | California and Oregon exempt only enclosed buildings with filtered (mechanical) ventilation and openings kept closed; Washington exempts enclosed buildings with openings closed |
Delivery drivers on bikes or scooters | Outdoors for the run | Yes |
Delivery drivers in a car with the windows up and a cabin air filter | Filtered | Exempt in California, Oregon and Washington when the air is filtered and the windows and doors stay closed |
Someone taking out the trash twice a shift | Brief | California exempts exposure "for a total of one hour or less during a shift"; Oregon partly exempts intermittent exposure under 15 minutes an hour and under an hour in 24 hours |
Staff at an outdoor smoker or grill | Outdoors, plus the smoke from the cooking | Yes |
So the first control in a restaurant is free: close the doors and windows, run the HVAC, and move the work inside.
What the three states require
California (§ 5141.1) | Oregon (OAR 437-002-1081) | Washington (WAC 296-820) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Trigger | Current AQI for PM2.5 of 151 or more, and exposure is reasonably anticipated | PM2.5 at or above 35.5 µg/m³ (AQI 101) | Written plan and training before work at a current PM2.5 of 20.5 µg/m³ (AQI 72) or more; controls required at 35.5 µg/m³ (AQI 101) |
Check the air | At the start of each shift and periodically after | Assess and monitor each work location | From Ecology, EPA or a local agency, or by measuring |
Tell the team | A system to tell staff the current AQI and protective measures, and encourage them to report worsening air and symptoms "without fear of reprisal" | A two-way communication system | Tell staff at each threshold; encourage reports of worsening air, missing protection and symptoms |
Training | Appendix B content, in a language staff understand | Provide and document it | Before exposure at 20.5 µg/m³ and at least once a year; extra topics for supervisors |
Controls | Filtered buildings or vehicles whenever feasible; then moving work, changing schedules, lighter work, extra rest | Engineering and administrative controls | Required whenever feasible at 35.5 µg/m³: filtered enclosed spaces, portable HEPA filters, moving or rescheduling work, lighter work, extra rest |
Respirators | N95s for voluntary use from AQI 151 to 500, and encourage their use; required above 500 | N95s for voluntary use; mandatory use under a respiratory protection program at higher levels | N95s at no cost from 35.5 µg/m³; handed directly to each person from 250.5 µg/m³; full program from 500.4 µg/m³ |
Symptoms | Encourage reporting | Part of training and communication | Allow medical attention without retaliation; watch anyone with symptoms; plan for prompt medical care |
Sources: California § 5141.1; Oregon OSHA FS-92, revised May 2024; WAC 296-820-805 through -835. Read the full rule for your state before you write your plan; these tables leave out exceptions and the details of each respirator tier.
On voluntary N95s, California notes that "For those employees whose only use of respirators involves the voluntary use of filtering facepieces, such as N95 respirators, fit testing and medical evaluations are not required by section 5144." Whether it's voluntary or required depends on the level.
Symptoms to watch for
Washington's rule lists the symptoms employers must encourage staff to report, including cough, difficulty breathing, wheezing, shortness of breath, asthma attacks, runny nose, sore throat, chest pain or discomfort, a fast or irregular heartbeat, feeling faint or dizzy, headache, and scratchy or irritated eyes. It lists as needing immediate medical attention: wheezing or difficulty breathing "particularly when accompanied by greater use of accessory muscles", asthma attacks, chest pain or symptoms of a heart attack, nausea or vomiting, and the signs of a stroke (WAC 296-820-820, -830). Put the second list on the plan in large type.
The wildfire smoke plan
Fill it in for your state's numbers, and keep it with your safety plan (in Washington, inside the written accident prevention program).
Wildfire smoke plan · [café or restaurant name] · [location]
Who's in charge: [manager on duty] checks the air and decides. Backup: [name]
Where we check: [AirNow / state or local agency] for the current AQI for PM2.5 at [zip code or monitor]. When: at the start of every shift and every [2 hours] while the AQI is [above your first trigger].
Our levels (fill in from your state's rule):
Current AQI for PM2.5 | What we do |
|---|---|
Below [first trigger, e.g. 101] | Normal service. Watch the forecast |
[first trigger] to [second] | Tell the team. Close back doors and windows; HVAC on, recirculate. Patio: [shorter shifts / rotate servers inside / close it]. N95s at the host stand for anyone who wants one |
[second] to [third] | Close the patio. Bike and scooter deliveries: [paused / car only]. Outdoor smoker and grill: [stopped]. N95s handed to anyone working outside |
Above [third] | [Close the location / your state's required respirator program] |
How we tell the team: [pre-shift huddle, group chat], in [languages]. Anyone can report worse air or symptoms to [manager] at any time, with no penalty.
Respirators: [N95 make/model], stored at [place], [count] on hand. Who orders more: [name].
Training: done [before the season / at hire], refreshed [yearly]. Records kept by [name].
If someone has symptoms: move them inside to filtered air; let them sit down; don't leave them alone. Breathing trouble, chest pain, confusion or a stroke sign: call 911. Then tell [manager] and write it up.
Address for emergency services: [street address, cross street, which door]
Plan reviewed: [date] by [name]
The shift air check log
Date | Time | Current AQI for PM2.5 | Source | Level | Actions taken (doors, patio, deliveries, N95s) | Team told how | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The pre-shift announcement
"Air quality today is [category], AQI [number] for smoke. The patio is [open with rotations / closed]. Back doors stay shut. N95s are at [place] for anyone who wants one. If you feel short of breath, dizzy, or your chest hurts, tell [manager] right away: you won't get in trouble for it."
Your smoke day checklist
- [ ] Current AQI for PM2.5 checked at the start of the shift and logged
- [ ] Team told the level and what we're doing
- [ ] Back doors and windows closed; HVAC running
- [ ] Patio and outdoor stations decided
- [ ] Bike and scooter deliveries decided
- [ ] N95s stocked and where everyone can see them
- [ ] Symptom steps posted; emergency address by the phone
- [ ] Rechecked every [2 hours]
Where Mays fits
- The check as a task. Add Check current AQI for PM2.5 (AirNow) and post the level to the opening and mid-shift checklists, with a Number answer for the reading. A Number answer isn't checked against its Min and Max, so put your trigger in the task name (… — act at 101 or more). In fire season, give it a Visibility Window so it shows at the start of the shift. See Creating a checklist template and Scheduling and assigning checklists.
- Tell the team. Make a group chat with everyone at the location in the Mays app and post the level and the plan there; there are no broadcast channels, so the group is the way to reach everyone. See Group chats.
- Write it down. A Health & Safety entry in the manager Logbook records the reading and what you closed, and notifies the location's other managers. Someone who reports symptoms belongs in an incident report too. See The manager logbook.
- The plan and the training. Keep the plan, the symptom list and the respirator instructions in a Knowledge Base folder, and on Pro, a Learning module with a short quiz to run before fire season. See Your knowledge base and Creating learning modules.
What Mays doesn't do: it doesn't read air quality or alert you when smoke arrives. The weather on the Forecast page shows the high, the low and the chance of rain, not the AQI, so the check is a person looking it up.
Check the air at the start of every shift
Know your state's numbers, look up the current AQI for PM2.5 when the shift starts, close the doors before anything else, decide on the patio and the bikes, and tell the team. Then check again in two hours.
Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll set up your smoke day checklist with you.