Labor and Workforce Development Agency, CHSWC and Cal/OSHA Host Forum on
Catastrophe Preparedness: Partnering to Protect Workplaces

OAKLAND -- The Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC), Cal/OSHA, along with RAND, are pleased to co-host a Forum on Catastrophe Preparedness: Partnering to Protect Workplaces. The forum will take place on April 7, 2006, in San Francisco.

The forum is a public education program devoted to workplace safety issues in the event of terrorism attacks and natural disasters. This one-day forum is intended to bring employers, workers, leaders in emergency response and homeland security and the public together to participate in presentations and discussions.

One hundred years after the catastrophic earthquake of 1906, earthquake risk and the risk of other catastrophes, including terrorism, continue to loom large for Californians and the nation. As we have learned from September 11, the risk of a catastrophe while people are at work and the risks to the workers who respond require the urgent attention of employers, workers and policymakers.

The Forum will provide an opportunity for the health, safety and workers’ compensation communities and the public to:

• Identify and review the roles of federal, state, and local government agencies and organizations in the case of a terrorist attack and natural disasters.
• Discuss and share ideas for safety in responding to terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
• Present the latest research on safety and health of emergency responders in natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
• Examine how employers and workers can be better prepared in case of a terrorist attack or natural disasters.
• Consider areas where improvements need to be made.

CHSWC believes that the Forum on Catastrophe Preparedness: Partnering to Protect Workplaces adds an important focus to the natural and unnatural risks faced during normal working hours and in high risk occupations, such as those of first responders.

CHSWC, created by the workers' compensation reform legislation of 1993, is charged with overseeing the health and safety and workers' compensation systems in California and recommending administrative or legislative modifications to improve their operation. CHSWC was established to conduct a continuing examination of the workers' compensation system and of the state's activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational diseases and to examine those programs in other states.

Information on the Forum and information about CHSWC may be accessed on the Internet at CHSWC's home page at www.dir.ca.gov/chswc. Information may also be obtained by writing to CHSWC at 1515 Clay Street, Suite 901, Oakland, California, 94612, by calling (510) 622-3959, by faxing a request to (510) 622-3265, or by email at chswc@dir.ca.gov.

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