Extending a digital risk mitigation intervention for workers deployed in diverse post-flood environments to address unique SAR-CoV-2 virus infection exposure risks in construction workplaces

ABSTRACT Flooding events continue to increase in both frequency and intensity. Workers involved in post-flood reconstruction work are at increased risk of adverse health effects due to respiratory exposures and other hazards. With the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into the global community, these workers are even more at risk for severe illness. Proposed e-learning platform “Pocket Ark” provides training before flooding occurs, real-time decision support during a clean-up, and communications capabilities during and after cleanup to the workers involved. We propose to extend this project to include SARS-CoV-2 screening and education modules. Pocket Ark will be expanded to recognize early onset symptoms in workers and prevent its spread in the workplace as well as provide training regarding risk reduction in the workplace, and resources to locate health care resources. This platform addresses an important public health problem and uses a novel app-based e- learning platform to improve and enhance the cognitive understanding of flood-related health hazards within this vulnerable working population.PROJECT NARRATIVE The proposed research is relevant to public health because it is directly associated with the safety and risk reduction of individuals participating in post-flood reconstruction. The increased frequency and intensity of storms has in turn increased the number of workers involved in post-storm reconstruction and the number of hazards that they are exposed to, increasing the risk to these workers. The recent onset of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in further comprising worker safety. Pocket Ark is an interactive e-learning self-assessment decision support training program to enable underserved Hispanic constructions workers mitigate environmental risks, both flood- and pandemic-related.