MEET OUR STUDENT - ELIZABETH HOM
Elizabeth Hom, who graduated in 2006, spent the summer studying the occupational health concerns of immigrant restaurant workers in San Francisco’s Chinatown. This area interested her because she grew up in San Francisco in a Chinese American family. The project gave her an opportunity to learn about environmental justice issues in her community. Associate Professor Matthew Keifer was her adviser. The project was part of the Occupational Health Internship Program, a partnership of the Chinese Progressive Association, California Department of Health Services, and the UC Berkeley Labor and Occupational Health Program (LOHP).
She and a medical anthropology student interviewed 11 workers in Cantonese, shadowed food and fire safety inspections of Chinatown restaurants, revised a list of occupational hazards identified by LOHP and Cal/OSHA, and conducted key informant interviews with academics, health inspectors, and community activists.
Hom found it valuable to visit workers’ homes, where she could learn about their living conditions and gain a more holistic perspective of their workplace health. These glimpses of crowded living conditions gave her an insight into their low expectations for a workplace environment.
She is now in Beijing for a nine-month assignment, teaching English to middle-school students and studying Chinese. She hopes to establish contacts with grassroots organizations and occupational health researchers who are striving to improve workplace conditions.