Employer attorneys are alerting companies in California about their responsibilities to comply with new state OSHA wildfire smoke exposure and safety rules, highlighting the importance of adhering to the rules while multiple fires sweep through large swaths of the state in both agricultural and urban areas.
September 16, 2026
California legislation that would lock into state law Obama-era worker safety and other rules has cleared a critical Assembly fiscal committee but still faces a fight on the floor of the chamber from powerful industry groups.
Major disagreements between California employers and workers are already flaring as Cal/OSHA launches the development of permanent safety rules for wildfire smoke, a draft of which is more stringent than a set of emergency rules the agency’s standards board adopted last month.
Business groups are urging the Supreme Court to review and reverse a California high court ruling that backed the state's use of supplemental enforcement powers to address workplace safety violations, fearing it will allow nearly two dozen other states operating under OSHA-approved plans to use their unapproved state laws to address alleged violations.
