Christine Baker
Christine Baker has been the Executive Officer of the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers' Compensation (CHSWC) since its inception in 1994.
Christine Baker has been the Executive Officer of the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) in San Francisco since its inception in 1994. She has served in several management capacities in the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) since 1984, including Chief of the Division of Labor Statistics and Research and Deputy Director for the Division of Workers’ Compensation. Previously, Baker worked at various research organizations and taught college courses on U.S. military bases in Japan and Korea and at the Confucian and Catholic Universities in Seoul, Korea. She has been a NASI member since 2002.
Christine Baker has been the Executive Officer of the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) in San Francisco since its inception in 1994. She has served in several management capacities in the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) since 1984, including Chief of the Division of Labor Statistics and Research and Deputy Director for the Division of Workers’ Compensation. Previously, Baker worked at various research organizations and taught college courses on U.S. military bases in Japan and Korea and at the Confucian and Catholic Universities in Seoul, Korea. She has been a NASI member since 2002.
Most recently she served on the Academy’s Workers’ Compensation Steering Committee. According to Rob McGarrah, Coordinator for Workers’ Compensation at AFL-CIO, “Christine Baker continues to do a superb job bringing the best, non-partisan research and policy to the Nation’s most troubled workers’ compensation system.” Bob Steggert, Vice President, Casualty Claims at Marriott International Inc., stated that, “as a state agency executive, Christine brings a valuable new perspective to NASI’s WC Steering Committee; she has a wealth of knowledge in Workers’ Compensation and Safety issues, which along with her negotiating skills brought labor and management together in an unprecedented fashion in California. Christine is a tireless mediator and champion for doing what’s right, not necessarily what’s politically expedient.”
Under her leadership, CHSWC has grown into its role of overseeing the health, safety and workers’ compensation systems in California and recommending administrative and legislative changes for improvement. CHSWC from the start has based its recommendations on findings from studies conducted by independent researchers, with the involvement of the entire community. CHSWC studied and made recommendations on many facets of the system, including the treating physician presumption, "baseball arbitration," pharmaceutical costs, adequacy of medical reports for permanent disability rating, lien claims, penalties, information for injured workers, audit procedures, uninsured employers, and young workers.
Baker currently chairs the Prevention, Benefit Adequacy and Cost containment committee of the International Association of Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC). She Chairs the Safety and Prevention committee and is a member of the IAIABC Council of Chairs; a member of the Northern Advisory Committee for the Center for Occupational Environmental and Health (COEH) University of California; a member of the policy advisory committee for the Worker Immigrant Safety and Health (WISH); a member of the National Advisory committee for the Injured Worker Survey (IWS), Workers’ Compensation Research Institute; a member of the Department of Insurance’s Fraud Advisory Committee; and a member of the advisory board for John Burton’s Workers’ Compensation Policy and Review. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Workers’ Compensation Research Group. In 2000, she was awarded the Frances Perkins Award in recognition for her outstanding efforts in furthering accident prevention and safety in the workplace. In 2001, IAIABC awarded Baker the Award of Merit for an outstanding contribution of leadership and commitment in furthering the goals of the association.
Christine Baker has been the Executive Officer of the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) in San Francisco since its inception in 1994. She has served in several management capacities in the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) since 1984, including Chief of the Division of Labor Statistics and Research and Deputy Director for the Division of Workers’ Compensation. Previously, Baker worked at various research organizations and taught college courses on U.S. military bases in Japan and Korea and at the Confucian and Catholic Universities in Seoul, Korea. She has been a NASI member since 2002.
Christine Baker has been the Executive Officer of the Commission on Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation (CHSWC) in San Francisco since its inception in 1994. She has served in several management capacities in the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) since 1984, including Chief of the Division of Labor Statistics and Research and Deputy Director for the Division of Workers’ Compensation. Previously, Baker worked at various research organizations and taught college courses on U.S. military bases in Japan and Korea and at the Confucian and Catholic Universities in Seoul, Korea. She has been a NASI member since 2002.
Most recently she served on the Academy’s Workers’ Compensation Steering Committee. According to Rob McGarrah, Coordinator for Workers’ Compensation at AFL-CIO, “Christine Baker continues to do a superb job bringing the best, non-partisan research and policy to the Nation’s most troubled workers’ compensation system.” Bob Steggert, Vice President, Casualty Claims at Marriott International Inc., stated that, “as a state agency executive, Christine brings a valuable new perspective to NASI’s WC Steering Committee; she has a wealth of knowledge in Workers’ Compensation and Safety issues, which along with her negotiating skills brought labor and management together in an unprecedented fashion in California. Christine is a tireless mediator and champion for doing what’s right, not necessarily what’s politically expedient.”
Under her leadership, CHSWC has grown into its role of overseeing the health, safety and workers’ compensation systems in California and recommending administrative and legislative changes for improvement. CHSWC from the start has based its recommendations on findings from studies conducted by independent researchers, with the involvement of the entire community. CHSWC studied and made recommendations on many facets of the system, including the treating physician presumption, "baseball arbitration," pharmaceutical costs, adequacy of medical reports for permanent disability rating, lien claims, penalties, information for injured workers, audit procedures, uninsured employers, and young workers.
Baker currently chairs the Prevention, Benefit Adequacy and Cost containment committee of the International Association of Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC). She Chairs the Safety and Prevention committee and is a member of the IAIABC Council of Chairs; a member of the Northern Advisory Committee for the Center for Occupational Environmental and Health (COEH) University of California; a member of the policy advisory committee for the Worker Immigrant Safety and Health (WISH); a member of the National Advisory committee for the Injured Worker Survey (IWS), Workers’ Compensation Research Institute; a member of the Department of Insurance’s Fraud Advisory Committee; and a member of the advisory board for John Burton’s Workers’ Compensation Policy and Review. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Workers’ Compensation Research Group. In 2000, she was awarded the Frances Perkins Award in recognition for her outstanding efforts in furthering accident prevention and safety in the workplace. In 2001, IAIABC awarded Baker the Award of Merit for an outstanding contribution of leadership and commitment in furthering the goals of the association.