Reduction of Hazardous Exposures in Small Businesses through a Community Health Worker Intervention

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PROJECT SUMMARY This administrative supplement application is in response to NOT-ES-20-020, which calls for proposals assessing the impact of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) on environmental exposures. Our parent project aims to reduce negative health outcomes in small businesses that primarily employ high-risk Latinx workers by characterizing their exposures to hazardous chemicals and assessing if a community health worker (CHW) intervention can decrease these exposures. Workers in small businesses may have increased risk of COVID- 19 exposure and severe economic impacts due to social distancing and shelter-in-place guidelines. In addition, small businesses may be unable to obtain needed personal protective equipment and may significantly increase their cleaning practices, and thus their chemical exposures. Small businesses are more likely to employ low-wage Latinx workers, and use hazardous solvents, including volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), that can cause asthma and cardiovascular disease which are risk factors for COVID-19 complications. Yet their workers lack access to culturally and linguistically appropriate occupational health information, including for COVID-19. Due to social distancing and shelter-in-place guidelines, we currently cannot measure chemical exposures or conduct face-to-face CHW interventions. The primary goal of our supplement application is to enhance our relationships with our small business partners by responding to their immediate needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and helping them through the crisis, while promoting worker safety through a novel tele- promotora program. CHWs are an innovative method to bridge the gap between small businesses and other stakeholders. The proposed project will capitalize on the strong, established partnership between the University of Arizona, the Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc., and the El Rio Community Health Center. A community-engaged research framework will be used to complete the following specific aims: 1) develop a novel “tele-promotora” program to deliver occupational health information to these vulnerable small business owners while face-to-face interactions are not possible; 2) determine how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed VOC exposures in two high-risk industries: auto repair shops and beauty salons; and 3) assess competing risk perceptions regarding COVID-19, economic impacts, and hazards of VOC exposures. These proposed aims directly relate to our previous aims, regarding: 1) assessing workplace exposures and risk perceptions in these two industries and 2) developing a CHW-intervention. It is essential that we gather information on COVID-19 impacts and update our CHW intervention in order to be sensitive to these concerns during the cluster-based trial (Aim 3, parent). Completing this supplement will preserve and/or increase the intervention’s impact by helping marginalized, Latinx workers and small business owners who may have limited education, literacy, and computer skills to understand the risks of COVID-19 and chemical hazards associated with their work, while empowering them to have greater control over their occupational exposures.