Why Construction Needs Nore Access to Opioid Overdose Meds

Vince Saavedra is the executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions. Opinions are the author’s own.

When people think about the potential dangers of working on a construction site, falling off scaffolding or being injured or killed by heavy machinery are typically the situations that come to mind. To be sure, these are all very real risks. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that construction workers already face the highest number of fatal work injuries compared to any other profession. 

However, according to a study last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses, primarily from synthetic opioids like fentanyl, take more construction workers’ lives than anything else. It’s time to shine a light on this hidden crisis and ensure that all overdose treatments are available where they’re needed most.

Some workers in construction and other labor-intensive fields, especially those on short-term contracts, already start off with a disadvantage; poor health coverage and little paid time off, if any, to recover from injuries. Driven by the initial need to quickly return to work, pain management through self-medication can easily spiral into addiction and death.

And, as I mentioned, overdoses are more deadly than the hazardous work on the job. In 2020, the BLS reported an at-work fatal injury rate for construction and extraction occupations of 13.5 deaths per 100,000 workers. That same year, the CDC reported that the group saw 162.6 

drug overdose deaths per 100,000 workers.

The challenges of trying to save lives and fight the stigma of drug addiction are enormous in an industry where physical injury is common, but making solutions and help more available can save lives. 

To read the rest of this commentary from our sister publication Construction Dive click here.