Analyzing air quality around wildfire events to help a client better protect their employees’ during these events

Wildfire Data Analysis for a Major Retail Distributor

An international retail distributor wanted to analyze concentrations of pollutants in outdoor air before, during, and after a wildfire to assess the potential exposures of delivery workers during and following a wildfire event. They reached out to our Health Sciences Advisory team to help.

We utilized the client’s own real-time, minute-by-minute air monitoring data at its distribution centers to assess the temporal and spatial trends in air pollutant exposures in the days during and after a real wildfire event. We calculated statistics to estimate workers’ exposures over a full shift and identified peak exposure concentrations. Additionally, we utilized data visualization techniques to illustrate air pollutant concentrations over the course of the wildfire in comparison to baseline concentrations.

Through these efforts, the client developed a deeper understanding of the potential exposures experienced by their outdoor and delivery workers during and after wildfire events. They used our results to aid in developing a risk management framework to determine appropriate exposure controls for given air pollutant concentrations.