As Los Angeles communities begin the process of recovering from one of the most destructive fires in California history, worker advocates and state regulators are concerned about the potential hazards to cleanup workers.

Some eager to get cleanup efforts going may turn to hired help, such as day laborers and domestic workers, many of whom need to recoup income lost during the fires, but are not always trained to handle such hazardous work.

The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health says fire recovery workers can face structurally unsound buildings, toxic gases, and exposed electrical wiring.

They can also be exposed to cancer-causing chemicals and ash, soot, and dust which can damage the lungs when inhaled.

At an Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board meeting, Cal/OSHA Senior Safety Engineer Mike Wilson said the agency plans to bring awareness about the risks of those jobs.

We're also paying attention to the need for getting in front of the next phase of this incident, which is going to be contractors moving into these areas, and what we've seen historically, hiring day laborers to do cleanup and salvage work, and often with little to no protection.

In recent years, advocates have been pushing California lawmakers to better protect workers.

The state has passed new regulations requiring employers to protect workers from wildfire smoke or prohibiting them from forcing workers to be in evacuation zones, and in July, some domestic workers will be newly covered under state workplace safety laws.

There's an exception for those hired privately by homeowners, but a Cal/OSHA spokesperson told CalMatters in an email that anyone who is hired for debris cleanup, no matter the employer, is covered by a slew of wildfire-specific safety regulations.

For CalMatters, I'm Jeanne Kuang, with additional reporting from Alejandra Reyes-Velarde.