Heat Illness and Wildfire Smoke Training Online

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Short answer.

No federal OSHA heat standard is in force. OSHA enforces heat hazards under the General Duty Clause, and its heat rule is still at the proposal stage (OSHA rulemaking page). Heat and wildfire smoke training rules come from state plans instead. California, Washington, Oregon, Maryland and Nevada each have a heat rule with training requirements, and California, Washington and Oregon also have a wildfire smoke rule. Each state names its own air temperature or heat index triggers, its own training topics and its own timing, so use the course written for your state. Wildfire smoke is covered here for California, Washington and Oregon only. Checked against primary sources on November 13, 2026.

Where federal OSHA stands on heat

OSHA published a proposed rule, Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, 89 Fed. Reg. 70698, on August 30, 2024. Its rulemaking page says the informal public hearing was held June 16 through July 2, 2025, and that the post-hearing comment period for hearing participants ended October 30, 2025. The page does not show a final rule. The latest Unified Agenda entry for RIN 1218-AD39 lists a Supplemental NPRM for December 2026 and Final Action for October 2027. Those are agency target dates, not commitments.

Until a standard exists, OSHA relies on the General Duty Clause, which requires each employer to furnish a workplace "free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm" (29 U.S.C. 654(a)(1)). OSHA's heat National Emphasis Program, CPL 03-00-024, took effect April 10, 2026. It covers general industry, construction, maritime and agriculture, and it cancels the directive dated April 8, 2022. Its Appendix J says a proposed citation for a heat-related health hazard "shall be issued under the GDC when all elements of a violation have been established."

State plans must be "at least as effective as OSHA in protecting workers" (OSHA State Plans). California, Washington, Oregon, Maryland and Nevada all run OSHA-approved state plans that cover most private sector workers, and each has adopted its own heat rule.

Which course do I need?

Choose the course for the state where the work is done. Every course below has an English and a Spanish version. The sections after the table give the rule, the trigger and the training requirement for each state.

State Heat rule Wildfire smoke rule Courses
California 8 CCR 3395 (outdoor) and 3396 (indoor) 8 CCR 5141.1 Heat for workers and supervisors; wildfire smoke
Washington WAC 296-62-09510 to 296-62-09560 WAC 296-820-805 to 296-820-860 Heat for workers and supervisors; wildfire smoke for workers and supervisors
Oregon OAR 437-002-0156 OAR 437-002-1081 Heat for workers; heat for supervisors (optional extra training); wildfire smoke
Maryland COMAR 09.12.32 No state rule covered here Heat for workers and supervisors
Nevada R131-24AP (NAC chapter 618) No state rule covered here Heat for workers; heat for designated persons

Other states have their own rules or fall under federal OSHA. The OSHA training requirements by state page lists the state rules we have verified. To browse every course, see the M Squared Training Academy, the Cal/OSHA online courses or Cursos en línea en español. For a short crew meeting on the same subject, M Squared sells toolbox talks: Heat Illness Toolbox Talk, Heat Illness: Hydration Toolbox Talk, Heat Illness Checklist Toolbox Talk, Preventing Heat Illness Toolbox Talk and Fires and Your Health: Smoke Toolbox Talk. A toolbox talk does not replace the required training.

California

Heat. 8 CCR 3395 applies to all outdoor places of employment. It requires one quart of water per employee per hour, and shade when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. High-heat procedures at 95 degrees Fahrenheit apply to five listed industries: agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, and transportation or delivery of agricultural products, construction materials or other heavy materials. 8 CCR 3396 covers indoor work areas where the temperature equals or exceeds 82 degrees Fahrenheit when employees are present. Its full provisions, including the high-heat measures, apply at 87 degrees Fahrenheit by temperature or heat index, or at 82 degrees Fahrenheit where employees wear clothing that restricts heat removal or work in a high radiant heat area.

Training. Both sections require effective training for each supervisory and non-supervisory employee before work that should reasonably be anticipated to expose them to the risk of heat illness (subsection (h)(1)). Supervisors need additional training before they supervise that work, including how to monitor weather reports and respond to hot weather advisories (3395(h)(2)). Section 3396 says training can be combined with the section 3395 training where both apply. The employer must also keep a written Heat Illness Prevention Plan in English and in the language understood by the majority of employees (subsection (i) of each section).

Wildfire smoke. 8 CCR 5141.1 applies where the current Air Quality Index for PM2.5 is 151 or greater and the employer should reasonably anticipate that employees may be exposed to wildfire smoke. Enclosed buildings and vehicles with filtered air and the openings kept closed are exempt, as is exposure to an AQI of 151 or greater for one hour or less in a shift. The employer must give training and instruction in a language and manner readily understandable by employees, containing at least the information in Appendix B (subsection (e)). At an AQI of 151 or greater, up to 500, the employer must provide respirators for voluntary use, such as N95 filtering facepieces (subsection (f)(3)(A)).

Courses.

For more on the California heat rules, see The California Heat Illness Standards, Indoor and Outdoor, Explained, Heat Illness Prevention Requirements for California Job Sites and Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Plan: 2026 Requirements for California Contractors.

Washington

Heat. WAC 296-62-09510 applies to employers with employees working outdoors. It excludes incidental exposure (no more than 15 minutes in any 60-minute period), firefighters under chapter 296-305 WAC, and agriculture under chapter 296-307 WAC. The rule is triggered by outdoor temperature: 80 degrees Fahrenheit for most clothing and 52 degrees Fahrenheit for nonbreathable clothing such as vapor barrier clothing (WAC 296-62-09530, Table 1). At 90 degrees Fahrenheit and above, high-heat procedures apply, including mandatory cool-down rest periods of 10 minutes every 2 hours at 90 and 15 minutes every hour at 100 (WAC 296-62-09547, Table 2).

Training. Under WAC 296-62-09560, all employees and supervisors must be trained before outdoor work where occupational exposure to heat might occur, and at least annually after the initial training, in a language and manner they understand. Supervisors have additional topics, including the procedures they follow to implement the rule and what to do when an employee shows signs of heat-related illness. The employer's written outdoor heat exposure safety program is part of its accident prevention program.

Agriculture. Washington covers agricultural outdoor heat in a separate rule, WAC 296-307-09710 to 296-307-09760. M Squared does not sell the Washington heat courses below for agricultural work.

Wildfire smoke. WAC 296-820-805 applies to all workplaces, including those with agricultural activity, except enclosed buildings and vehicles with the openings kept closed, firefighters and prescribed burns. Under WAC 296-820-825, the employer must train all workers before work that exposes them to PM2.5 of 20.5 micrograms per cubic meter (AQI 72) or more, and at least annually after that. Supervisors need the same content plus the procedures for implementing the rule, responding to symptoms and moving employees to medical care.

Courses.

Oregon

Heat. OAR 437-002-0156 applies indoors and outdoors whenever the heat index equals or exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Shade is required once the heat index reaches 80 and drinking water must be available at all times, and high-heat practices, including a written rest break schedule, apply when controls do not bring the heat index below 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Subsection (9) requires heat illness prevention training for all employees, supervisory and non-supervisory, annually before they begin work that should reasonably be anticipated to expose them to heat illness. It must be given in a language and vocabulary readily understood and in a manner that facilitates employee feedback, and subsection (10) requires written training records.

The supervisor course is optional. Subsection (9) gives one training list for supervisory and non-supervisory employees. The rule text has no supervisor-only training topics. For that reason Heat Illness Prevention for Supervisors, Optional Extra Training (Oregon OSHA) Online Training is optional extra training, not something the Oregon rule requires. Supervisors are covered by the same training list as every other employee.

Agriculture. Oregon puts agricultural heat illness prevention in Division 4 (OAR 437-004-1131). M Squared does not sell the Oregon heat courses below for agricultural work.

Wildfire smoke. OAR 437-002-1081 applies to public and private employers whose employees are or will be exposed to wildfire smoke at a PM2.5 concentration of 35.5 micrograms per cubic meter (AQI 101) or more. Training for all employees is required annually before exposure, in a language and vocabulary readily understood and in a manner that facilitates employee feedback (subsection (4)). Employers must provide filtering facepiece respirators for voluntary use at 35.5. Respirator use is required at 200.9 micrograms per cubic meter (AQI 251); the employer may follow the rule's Appendix A wildfire smoke respiratory protection program. At 500.4 (AQI 501) a full respiratory protection program under 29 CFR 1910.134 is required.

Courses.

Maryland

Maryland's heat stress standard is COMAR 09.12.32, enforced by Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH). It applies to employers whose employees, indoors or outdoors, are exposed to a heat index of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more (regulation .02). The employer must monitor the heat index through the shift, keep a written heat-related illness prevention and management plan (.04), provide an acclimatization period of up to 14 days (.05), shade (.06) and at least 32 ounces of drinking water per hour (.07). High-heat procedures start at a heat index of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, with rest periods of either 10 minutes every 2 hours at 90 to 100 and 15 minutes every hour above 100, or the current NIOSH work and rest recommendations. Documented alternative cooling and control measures can replace the schedule (.08).

Regulation .10 requires initial training for employees and supervisors before the first exposure to heat, retraining at least annually before exposure, and retraining immediately after any incident involving suspected or confirmed heat-related illness. The training must be in a language and manner that all employees and supervisors can understand and must cover the employer's procedures for complying with the chapter. Training records are kept for one year.

Courses.

Nevada

Nevada's heat illness rule is Legislative Counsel Bureau file R131-24, designated R131-24AP, which adds sections to NAC chapter 618. It was approved on November 15, 2024. The Division of Industrial Relations said it was in effect on filing (November 20, 2024 news release), and its guidance says enforcement began April 29, 2025 (January 29, 2025 guidance). Nevada OSHA states that the rule applies to employers required to have a written safety program, which generally means employers with more than 10 employees, plus employers that manufacture explosives (May 21, 2026 updated guidance).

The rule works through a hazard analysis. Covered employers prepare a written job hazard analysis of the job classifications where a majority of employees have occupational exposure to heat illness for more than 30 minutes of any 60-minute period (section 5). If the analysis finds exposure, the employer must designate a person authorized and able to contact emergency medical services, monitor the working conditions and carry out the heat provisions of the written safety program (section 6). Section 7 requires a training program for each employee in an identified job classification, so that the employee can recognize the hazards of heat illness and knows the procedures to follow to minimize them. Indoor workers in a climate-controlled environment are outside sections 5 to 8 while the climate control works (section 9).

Nevada OSHA's updated guidance says employers must provide this training before employees perform their work duties and that the regulation does not impose retraining requirements. It also says an employee who lacks the authority to carry out the designated person's duties is not a designated person, and that the designated person needs training for the role. The guidance does not specify a training delivery method.

Courses. Nevada has a worker course and a designated-person course.

What the employer still has to do

A course covers the general content. It does not do the employer's work. Every rule above makes the employer responsible for its own written program or plan, for providing water, shade or cooling, and for emergency procedures at the job site. California, Maryland and Oregon also require the training to cover the employer's own procedures, and Washington requires it to cover the employer's shade and close-observation procedures. The employer must give that part and any hands-on practice. M Squared courses do not issue Department of Labor cards and are not OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 courses.

Questions you may have

Is there a federal OSHA heat standard?

No. OSHA proposed one on August 30, 2024 (89 Fed. Reg. 70698), held a hearing from June 16 to July 2, 2025, and had not issued a final rule when this page was last checked. OSHA enforces heat hazards under the General Duty Clause and its heat National Emphasis Program, CPL 03-00-024, effective April 10, 2026.

Who has to be trained on heat illness in California?

Under 8 CCR 3395(h) and 3396(h), each supervisory and non-supervisory employee must receive effective training before work that should reasonably be anticipated to expose them to heat illness, and supervisors need additional training before supervising that work.

How often is heat training required in Washington, Oregon and Maryland?

All three require it annually. Washington requires training before outdoor work and at least annually after (WAC 296-62-09560(1)). Oregon requires it annually before employees begin work with heat exposure (OAR 437-002-0156(9)). Maryland requires it before first exposure and at least annually before exposure, plus after any suspected or confirmed heat-related illness incident (COMAR 09.12.32.10).

Does the Oregon heat rule require supervisor training?

It requires training for all employees, supervisory and non-supervisory, on one list of topics (OAR 437-002-0156(9)). The rule text has no supervisor-only topics, so a separate supervisor course is optional extra training.

Do the Washington and Oregon heat rules cover farm work?

Not in these rules. Washington's outdoor heat rule excludes agriculture under chapter 296-307 WAC (WAC 296-62-09510(4)), which has its own heat rule at WAC 296-307-09710 to 296-307-09760. Oregon puts agricultural heat illness prevention in OAR 437-004-1131.

What does Nevada require beyond training?

Covered employers must complete a written job hazard analysis, designate a person to monitor heat conditions and coordinate emergency response, and address heat in the written safety program (R131-24AP, sections 5 and 6).

How training works here

You take the course online at your own pace, on a phone or a computer. Each course has a final exam, and you receive a certificate of completion from M Squared Safety Solutions, Inc. when you pass. If you have a question about the material, call an M Squared trainer at 949-954-6581, Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Pacific time.

The limit: these courses do not replace the training your employer must give on your own job, including your employer's written plan and job-site procedures, and any hands-on practice a rule requires.