How California Regulators Failed to Protect Outdoor Workers From Wildfire Smoke

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 8 December 2021

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Farmworkers in California work outside even during wildfires that fill the air with toxic smoke. California law requires employers to provide mask and safety guidance during those periods of dangerous air. But, an investigation by KQED and The California Newsroom found that state officials rarely enforce those rules putting roughly 4 million outdoor workers at risk. Despite those failures, Douglas Parker, the former head of California Division of Occupational Health and Safety responsible for enforcing the regulations, was recently appointed by President Joe Biden to lead the nation’s worker health and safety efforts. We talk about the investigation’s findings and whether California regulators are falling short in protecting workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQBD Podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a wellness resort 45 minutes outside of San Diego.
0:07.6	Summer packages include fitness and mindfulness classes, hiking, live music, and culinary adventures featuring fresh fruits and veggies.
0:16.3	Rancho LePuerta.com
0:17.8	Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a
0:24.0	true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:31.9	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them
0:39.8	into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously
0:47.4	hopeful parade plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
0:59.0	From KQED. Welcome back to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Farm workers, among other laborers, work outside,
1:07.9	even during wildfires that fill our air with toxic smoke.
1:12.2	California law now requires employers to provide mask and safety guidance during those periods
1:18.5	of dangerous air, which, you know, we all have experienced. But an investigation by KQED
1:23.6	and the California Newsroom found that state officials almost never enforced those rules,
1:29.1	leaving roughly 4 million outdoor workers to protect themselves. Despite those failures,
1:34.5	Douglas Parker, the former head of the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety,
1:40.7	Cal OSHA, which is responsible for enforcing those regulations, was recently appointed
1:45.2	by President Joe Biden to lead the nation's worker health and safety efforts. Here to tell us
1:51.0	about what this investigation found. We have Farida Javala Romero, reporter with KQED and NPR's
1:57.7	California Newsroom. Welcome, Farida. Hi, Alexis. So what's the key data that you
2:05.0	looked at in this investigation to sort of evaluate how enforcement has gone? Yes. So what we found
2:11.9	is that the state, like you mentioned, has almost never cited employers for breaking the wildfire smoke protection rules.
2:19.6	So in the more than two years that this regulation has been in place, state inspectors with the
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.