What is the Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP)?
WOSHTEP is a statewide initiative aimed at reducing occupational injuries and illnesses and workers’ compensation costs in California workplaces.
The training program is administered by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation in the Department of Industrial Relations through interagency agreements with:
- Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at UC Davis
- Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) at UC Berkeley
- Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) at UCLA
What is the WOSH Specialist Training and what does it include?
One of the goals of WOSHTEP is to train California workers to be Worker Occupational Safety and Health (WOSH) Specialists who will take leadership roles in promoting health and safety in their workplaces. The WOSH Specialist training is intended to build knowledge and skills in many areas of injury and illness prevention. WCAHS conducts two WOSH Specialist trainings each year in partnership with LOHP.
Training participants are required to successfully complete all six core modules, plus a minimum of three supplemental modules, in order to be recognized as WOSH Specialists and receive a certificate of completion. Trainings are typically held online as four three-hour sessions over the course of two weeks (a total of 12 hours of class time and additional 2–4 hours of assigned homework).
Core Modules
The core modules address competencies for effective participation in workplace injury and illness prevention programs (IIPPs) and on joint labor-management health and safety committees. The core modules include:
- Underlying Causes of Injury and Illness
- Identifying Hazards in the Workplace
- Controlling Hazards in the Workplace
- Rights and Responsibilities under Cal/OSHA
- Workers’ Compensation
- Action Planning
Supplemental Modules
Supplemental modules are tailored to the participants and may include:
- Chemical Hazards and Hazard Communication
- Workplace Emergency Preparedness
- Preventing Musculoskeletal Disorders: Introduction to Ergonomics
- Workplace Health and Safety Committees
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Communicating Effectively About Workplace Health and Safety
- How Adults Learn Best: Sharing Health and Safety Information in the Workplace
- Workplace Violence Prevention
- Workplace Sexual Harassment
- Preventing Exposure to COVID-19
- Addressing Work-related Stress
This information is based on the Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP) administered by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation in the California Department of Industrial Relations through interagency agreements with the Labor Occupational Health Program at the University of California, Berkeley; the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety at the University of California, Davis; and the Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program at the University of California, Los Angeles.