Your work shouldn’t hurt you

The goal of this study is to formally evaluate if a community health worker intervention can effectively reduce workplace exposures in marginalized small businesses to hazardous chemicals. Through face-to-face encounters, this study will increase the capacity of workers with limited education, literacy & computer skills to understand workplace hazards and effective control options to reduce exposures and prevent occupational disease.

This project was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Relevance to SWEHSC: 

In 2019, Dr. Beamer’s team developed fully-bilingual (Spanish/English) data and sample collection and management tools and infrastructure for launching our clinical trial to reduce volatile organic chemical exposures in small auto shops and beauty salons. Much of this year was also dedicated towards analyzing the data collected during year 1 of our project in order to design the promotora-based intervention. The clinical trial will launch in January of 2020. The SWESHC IHSFC has been assisting with development of data collection instruments and database development.

Cluster of Efforts: 

Paloma Beamer, Scott Carvajal, Melanie Bel