In this week’s Safety & Health publication, an article stated the rate of opioid-related overdose deaths among Massachusetts workers in 2016 and 2017 rose 83.7% over the previous five-year period, with construction and agricultural occupations experiencing dramatic jumps.
This was cited from a report from the state’s Department of Public Health.
In a press release from the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, the worker advocacy group calls on policymakers to allocate funds to “workplace prevention and recovery strategies” as well as programs intended to aid workers with opioid misuse disorders.