SAN BERNARDINO/SAN FRANCISCO -- State Compensation Insurance Fund will sponsor a free restaurant-safety training program for managers and supervisors in San Bernardino October 12. The workshop is designed to help restaurant policyholders’ work with their staffs to create effective health and safety training programs. The seminar will also examine how to reduce compensation costs and increase productivity by reducing injuries.

The featured speaker for the program will be Diane Bush, who coordinates the Restaurant Safety Training Program at U.C. Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP). She has over 20 years experience as an occupational and environmental health educator.

The workshop will provide a one-hour safety training program tailored to individual restaurants. It will also show owners and managers how to engage workers in safety programs, identify ways to prevent injuries, and meet Cal/OSHA training requirements.

Workshop participants will receive educational materials including a restaurant safety-training guide, safety tip sheets, a safety orientation checklist, a model shoe policy and fact sheets that address issues of concern when employing teens in restaurants.

The seminar is from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at State Fund’s San Bernardino District Office, 375 West Hospitality Lane.  Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. and free parking is available.  Refreshments will be served at the event. To register, please call Tanisha Barfield at (909) 384-4969, or send a fax to (909) 384-4717. To register via email, please email tbarfield@scif.com.

The event is hosted by State Fund’s San Bernardino District Office in partnership with the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) at U.C. Berkeley and UCLA's Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH), with support from the California Restaurant Association (CRA). The event is funded by the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation. This program is part of the Commission's Worker Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (WOSHTEP).

The San Bernardino seminar is part of a series of educational programs State Compensation Insurance Fund is holding throughout the state in order to help employers create safe workplaces. State Fund has the largest safety and health services program among California workers’ compensation insurance carriers.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, San Francisco-based State Compensation Insurance Fund is a self-supporting, nonprofit, fairly competitive public enterprise that provides workers’ compensation insurance coverage at cost to California employers.