Promoting Effective Injury and Illness Prevention Programs for School Employees: The School Action for Safety and Health Program

In a time when schools are facing deep budget cuts and layoffs, it is a surprise to find that many school district employees are eager to attend day-long health and safety trainings and are even able to implement programs that promote employee safety. In fact, training is more important than ever. As more school employees are asked to do double- and triple-duty by taking on health and safety responsibilities for the first time, and as districts are asked to do more with less, districts can greatly benefit from effective training programs, user-friendly materials, and technical assistance to address injury and illness rates that are consistently higher than that of general industry. In 2009, the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation established a Schools Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) model program called the California School Action for Safety and Health (SASH). The program, which has been developed and implemented by UC Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program, with training support from UCLA's Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) program, includes materials, training and resources to enable school districts develop or improve their IIPPs and to make health and safety improvements that protect school employees from injuries and illnesses on the job. This presentation describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of the SASH program's materials and training course. Lessons learned and suggestions for implementing a similar program in other states will be provided.