School Action for Safety and Health (SASH)
In December 2008, California launched a statewide program to help K- 12 school districts develop and implement injury and illness prevention programs. The School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) Program is an initiative to help school districts reduce the high rate of work-related injuries and illnesses among school employees. SASH is administered by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) in the Department of Industrial Relations, through an interagency agreement with the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) at UC Berkeley. The Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) Program at UCLA conducts activities in southern California.
The SASH Program offers:
- A free training program to help build the capacity of district-level health and safety coordinators to be resources to other employees and develop their Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP).
- Written materials that support injury and illness prevention activities.
- Problem-solving assistance provided by a statewide resource center at LOHP. The Resource Center is available to help school districts find additional information and obtain assistance after the training.
The goal of the SASH program is to assist school districts throughout the state to:
- reduce the high rate of work-related injuries and illnesses among school employees (with a special focus on non-teaching staff) and
- comply with Cal/OSHA’s Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) standard.
IIPPs are required in California workplaces and are a critical component of any health and safety program because they establish key procedures for protecting the health of employees. This project aims to disseminate the lessons learned from the California project to a national audience.
THE SASH TRAINING PROGRAM
LOHP conducts a free training program (one-day in person or two afternoons online) for school district staff who are responsible for employee safety and health. These employees are typically from human resources/administration and/or the maintenance and operations department. The trainings are provided by University of California trainers at county offices of education and other convenient locations. Once they complete the training, trainees become “SASH Coordinators” for their district and receive a certificate from CHSWC and the University of California. UCLA’s Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) program conducts the SASH training in Southern California.
SASH MATERIALS
The SASH Program offers a variety of free written materials to help school employees identify and address health and safety issues in the school environment. There are materials that are specific to California as well as others for schools nationwide.
