Education and community resource building through the New York City Healthy Homes Hardware Store Campaign

Objectives: Lead poisoning remains a health problem in NYC. As lead dust from repair or renovation work is a primary cause of lead poisoning, safe work practices are one way to reduce this risk. However, research has also shown that stores selling repair and renovation products have limited ability to provide guidance on safe work practices or products.

Methods: In 2004, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene implemented a membership campaign providing point-of-purchase information on safe work practices and products to small contractors, superintendents, landlords, and "do-it-yourselfers". Multilingual educational materials are distributed by member hardware and paint retail stores. Store visits are used to recruit new members, educate employees, restock materials, and promote compliance with local signage laws. While the campaign initially focused on lead paint, materials address several home health hazards such as mold, pest control, asthma triggers, and household chemicals among others.

Results: 430 stores are enrolled in the campaign. These stores have distributed 106,536 educational materials. 800 store employees have received safe work practices training. When visited, 121 stores had the required signage posted that dry scraping and dry sanding of paint is prohibited.

Conclusions: Neighborhood store participation in the campaign has been high. Stores can serve as important education and community resources, particularly in under-served areas. As the campaign expands in 2008, stores will participate in worker training opportunities, provide education on other local signage laws and additional home health hazards, and provide joint sponsorship of healthy homes advertising and community events.