COVID-19 and Nail Salon Workers: Taking Stock of the Pandemic's Impact on Occupational Health and Safety

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: The 400,000 nail salon workers (NSW) in the U.S.—primarily immigrant women in their prime reproductive years—are part of a $10 billion small business industry that is understudied and hard-to-reach. NSWs are emblematic of low-wage, underinsured, immigrant women in the workforce who are invisible in the communities they serve. This overlooked worker population is continuously exposed to occupational hazards such as toxic chemicals, biological agents, poor ergonomics, and psychological stressors. The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) heightened not only the economic vulnerability of these workers but also exacerbated existing unaddressed occupational health and safety (OHS) issues. Pre- pandemic studies indicated NSWs expressed needs for training on product exposure and safety measures. Given COVID-19, workplace priorities have undoubtedly shifted as the focus may now be on job security, infection control, resource access, and mental health. In addition, NSWs are particularly at risk for COVID-19 infection given the close proximity needed to provide client services. Several recommendations have been published to guide employers’ methods to safeguard employees’ OHS during the pandemic. However, we do not know whether and to what extent nail salons owners are adopting and implementing those guidelines to protect their workers. Without a comprehensive understanding of established protective measures and whether and how NSW priorities have shifted in light of COVID-19, future interventions will be ill-equipped to meet their needs and effectively promote these workers’ health and wellbeing. This mixed-method sequential design study, guided by a community-engaged approach has the following Specific Aims: (1) Characterize the safety measures that nail salon owners have implemented during COVID-19 and changes in priorities; (2) Explore NSWs’ perceived OHS experiences and needs during COVID-19; and (3) Collaborate with NSWs and owners to develop, pilot, and validate a survey instrument informed by the literature and qualitative data from Aims 1 and 2. This proposal advances the missions of the NIOSH National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Services sector as well as the Healthy Work Design and Well-Being Cross-Sector as it will: 1) advance our assessment approach of OHS needs and changes, in light of the pandemic, among an understudied small business industry worker group; and 2) inform the design of a future evidence-based intervention. The main research-to-practice (r2p) contribution of this application is two-pronged: 1) the development of a targeted survey to improve understanding of the pandemic’s effects on NSWs OHS and other workers with similar types of characteristics (e.g., female, low-wage, underinsured, immigrant); and 2) establish and strengthen partnership and collaboration among the study team members and nail salon community. Intermediate outcomes include the potential for changes in NSW needs assessment methodology for occupational health researchers. In addition to the survey, outputs will include publications and conference proceedings.