Hazardous Materials Worker Health and Safety Training

Abstract Long-standing systemic health and social inequities have put many members of racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting COVID-19 or experiencing severe illness, regardless of age. Hispanics and Latino persons have a rate approximately 4 times that of non-Hispanic white persons. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a prolonged effect on the entire nation; however, disparities by race, ethnicity and economic status have caused already vulnerable communities to be affected at a greater rate. Additionally, individuals with underlying medical conditions, older adults, and individuals with long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution are experiencing a greater COVID-19 burden than non- Hispanic White populations. This impact includes not only the obvious death and sickness due to COVID-19, but also includes loss of employment, reduction in employment, food scarcity, social unrest, mental health issues and isolation resulting in depression. The overarching goal of this project is to assist vulnerable communities towards recovery from the COVID pandemic. The Sustainable Workplace Alliance will conduct training and outreach designed to assist both at risk citizens (including youths and the elderly) and essential workers, in making effective decisions which will result in a reduction of COVID exposure and transmission. Under this project, we expect to provide COVID training and outreach to a minimum of 3,675 citizens and essential workers. This project will include program assessment and research with a goal to evaluate: • How our community-based partnerships helped with recovery during a pandemic • What are the hurdles to assisting citizens during a disaster, including a pandemic • How effective our outreach was to essential workers and their employers • Identification of best practices during a disaster and during disaster response • The effect of social leaders on influencing pandemic mitigation steps Additionally, we will evaluate other practices and findings that occur during our COVID training and outreach.