CHSWC Releases Safety Factsheet on Protection from Wildfire Smoke for School Employees

OAKLAND — California’s Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC) is announcing the release of Worker Protection from Wildfire Smoke: Cal/OSHA Wildfire Smoke Standard 2021, a publication of the School Action for Safety and Health (SASH) program.

To address the ongoing hazards related to wildfires in California, CHSWC’s SASH program produced this factsheet to inform employees at schools and school districts about Cal/OSHA’s Protection from Wildfire Smoke standard. The factsheet contains a summary of the standard and information on the health effects of wildfire smoke, protective measures that Cal/OSHA requires and relevant website references. The wildfire smoke protection publication was developed for CHSWC by the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) and is available for download or printing on the CHSWC website.

The California School Action for Safety and Health program is administered by CHSWC in the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) through an interagency agreement with the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California, Berkeley. SASH was established to help schools statewide continually improve their injury and illness prevention practices. The program includes training and resources to enable schools or school districts to develop or improve Injury and Illness Prevention Programs (IIPPs) and to make other health and safety improvements that help protect school or school district employees from workplace injuries and illnesses. The target audience focuses on K-12 schools and school districts at high risk of occupational injury and illness.

CHSWC is charged with examining the health and safety and workers' compensation systems in California and recommending administrative or legislative modifications to improve their operation. The commission was established to conduct a continuing examination of the workers' compensation system and of the state's activities to prevent industrial injuries and occupational illnesses and to examine those programs in other states.

Information about CHSWC is available on the CHSWC website. Information may also be obtained by writing to the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation, 1515 Clay Street, 17th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612; by calling (510) 622-3959; by faxing a request to (510) 286-0499; or by email to chswc@dir.ca.gov. Please note that postal service may be subject to delays. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, CHSWC public meetings will be held online until further notice.