UC Merced holds workplace COVID training for high-risk industries

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Workers in high-risk industries are getting COVID-19 workplace health and safety training and vaccine education.

It's part of a statewide initiative to combat the spread of the virus.

UC Merced's Community and Labor Center was given a six-month, $280,000 grant to lead the effort across eight counties in our region.

The focus will be on industries including agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial, and food service.

"We're really focusing on engaging workers where they're at, providing information and meeting workers to really inform them of their workers' rights, as far as health and safety protocols in the workplace to prevent COVID. Helping them to register for vaccine appointments. A lot of our communities may not have that access," says MaiKa Yang with the UC Merced Community and Labor Center.

Misael Jimenez, a farmworker, added:

"So the main changes have been that I can't work in groups anymore, I use face masks all the time, and try to have social distancing as much as possible."

The Central Valley region has the highest concentration of essential workers in California, including half of the state's agricultural workers and food processing workers.