Recently the apartments above my place of work burst into flames. Everyone got out fine but several apartments were damaged and has been completely evacuated for the time being. Fortunately, the store below didn’t have any cosmetic damage but there is an awful, lingering smell of smoke and fumes from god knows what burned upstairs (it has been confirmed that one of those things was a refrigerator). It smells like a bad campfire/burning trash/plastic/chemical fumes. The building as a whole is old and not very well maintained (honestly I’ve questioned the presence of mold) but now my coworkers and I are struggling to work with the lingering smoke.
Our employers have fans going with filters and are leaving the front door open to circulate air but the smell is awful. To make matters worse the owners of the building want us to not do anything to mitigate the smell so when assessments are done on the building they can get a higher claim for how bad the smoke/fume damage is. My coworkers and I have been getting awful headaches and migraines, extreme fatigue and I almost threw up from work from how bad the smell is. We are all people that already struggle with health issues and are miserable while working.
Our employers starting to implement mandatory walks outside, which is good for temporary relief but the second we walk back into the building it triggers the previous symptoms. The other day they asked me to come in on my day off, which I presume is so I could relieve my other coworker of his shift since the smell has been triggering migraines for him. The store is a small, retail spot and I understand that they have to remain open for business but all of this feels wrong and I have no clue what my workplace rights are in this situation. I have loved working at this spot until now. I’m pissed that I have to work in these conditions and that it’s impacting my health there and at home. What should I do???