Cal/OSHA, Corps and advocates outline worker-safety steps as cleanup continues

California occupational-safety officials, federal recovery staff and worker advocates told a joint Senate–Assembly hearing that they are deploying outreach, monitoring and enforcement to protect workers who are doing fire cleanup and rebuilding in Los Angeles.

Cal/OSHA’s chief, Deborah Lee, told the committees the agency has mobilized staff, bilingual materials and field teams to educate employers and workers about hazards related to ash, soot, demolition and debris work. “Workers performing wildfire cleanup may potentially be exposed to hazards such as slips and trip hazards, heat illness related exposures and respiratory hazards,” Lee said. “Employers are required to establish an effective plan to identify hazards on the site and communicate them to workers, provide workers with proper personal protective equipment, including respiratory protection, and ensure that workers have completed a 40‑hour hazardous waste operation and emergency response training.”

Why it matters: Workers in cleanup and early rebuilding face airborne particulates, asbestos risks and typical construction hazards. The failure to reach affected workers—many of whom rely on day labor and Spanish‑language outreach—could produce immediate harm and longer‑term health effects, witnesses said.

Officials described a three‑part strategy: (1) outreach and multilingual education for homeowners, employers and workers; (2) on‑site compliance assistance and safety consultations; and (3) enforcement where employers do not correct unsafe conditions. Lee said Cal/OSHA distributed thousands of printed materials through community organizations and has a bilingual call center and staff on the ground. Hassan Adan, regional manager for Cal/OSHA Enforcement Region 4, told lawmakers the agency has dedicated 34 staff to the response and typically has about a dozen inspectors in the field on any given day, conducting interviews, spot checks and follow‑up investigations.

Cal/OSHA also reported complaint and enforcement activity. Adan said the agency received 66 complaints related to wildfire and cleanup operations in January and February and is investigating complaints and several minor accidents. “We are out there every day,” he said, describing visits to job sites, laundromats and worker centers to meet people where they are.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is leading phase 2 debris removal on private property under federal mission assignments, said safety is embedded in its contracts and on‑site supervision. Colonel Jim Hondura, South Pacific Division regional commander, said Corps teams require contractors to submit site safety and health plans and that Corps personnel and safety professionals monitor operations. He said workers in the ash footprint are required to wear full PPE, and the Corps uses air monitoring and dust suppression at active sites.

Gaps and concerns: Worker‑center and labor representatives said language access, outreach and unregistered temporary crews remain problems. Megan Ortiz of IDESCA and Sarah Flocks of the California Labor Federation described cases where workers lacked evacuation information in Spanish, or were hired informally for hazardous cleanup without protective equipment. Cal/OSHA said it is coordinating with community groups and other state agencies to get materials and in‑person assistance to hard‑to‑reach workers.

On documentation and accountability, officials acknowledged limits. Colonel Hondura said the Corps tracks its prime contractor (ECC) and the subcontractors who work under that federal contract, and that ECC must submit safety plans and award a portion of subcontracts to small or disadvantaged businesses. But Cal/OSHA staff said they do not have a single registry of every private contractor working independently on homeowner‑hired cleanup across the region; instead, inspectors encounter those workers during field visits and through complaints.

What’s next: Cal/OSHA and partner agencies said they will continue outreach, safety monitoring and enforcement. Lawmakers pressed officials to provide lists of subcontractors working under federal contracts, to clarify which waste streams require special handling, and to make data on inspections and enforcement publicly available so the legislature can assess whether further resources are needed.

The hearing made clear that while safety protocols exist on paper—PPE, HAZWOPER 40‑hour training and respiratory protection—a parallel effort remains to reach workers who are not on formal rosters and to ensure employers comply in practice.