Creating compelling worker health and safety messages through digital storytelling: The California fatality assessment and control evaluation (CA/FACE) program

The California Department of Public Health in collaboration with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established the California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (CA/FACE) program for the surveillance and investigation of fatal work injuries. The goal of the CA/FACE program is to prevent fatal work injuries by identifying high-risk work processes, developing prevention strategies, and informing those who can intervene in the workplace. Program staff produced two digital stories (3-5 minute visual narratives that synthesize images, video, voice, music and text to create compelling accounts of experience) to highlight fatality investigation findings and prevention recommendations. These stories focus on the risk of falls among solar panel installers and the hazards of working with wood chippers. This is a collaborative effort involving contributions from co-workers, employers, and family members to re-create the incident scene and pay tribute to the victim. The presenter will discuss the production process and how industry has adopted these stories as valuable training tools.