Arturo was cleaning the kitchen floor of a restaurant after his work shift one day and combined two of the cleaning solutions to save time. Little did he know, the mixture of the two cleaning products produced a chemical combination that became life-threatening. As he started to scrub, Arturo began to feel nausea, difficulty breathing, a tight chest, and a sharp, burning pain all over his skin. Some of his co-workers noticed his condition and brought him to the hospital, where he later died. Thirteen other workers and customers were sickened by the chemical exposure and were hospitalized before the restaurant was cleared and ventilated. 

Workers use tens of thousands of chemicals every day. While many of these chemicals are suspected of being harmful, only a small number are regulated in the workplace and workers suffer both poisonings and long-term health effects due to chemical exposures on the job. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that each year workers suffer more than 190,000 illnesses and 50,000 deaths related to chemical exposures. Workplace chemical exposures have been linked to cancers, and other lung, kidney, skin, heart, stomach, brain, nerve, and reproductive diseases. All workers have the right to know about the chemicals they work with and community health workers can be an important source of information and support for workers. This webinar discusses how workers are exposed, the possible resulting health effects of exposure, and strategies to help workers best protect themselves.
 

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to…