Work Environment Factors and Prevention of Opioid-Related Deaths

Abstract

<jats:p> Opioid use disorder (OUD) and opioid overdose deaths (OODs) are prevalent among US workers, but work-related factors have not received adequate attention as either risk factors or opportunities for OOD prevention. Higher prevalence of OOD in those with heavy physical jobs, more precarious work, and limited health care benefits suggest work environment and organizational factors may predispose workers to the development of OUD. </jats:p><jats:p> Organizational policies that reduce ergonomic risk factors, respond effectively to employee health and safety concerns, provide access to nonpharmacologic pain management, and encourage early substance use treatment are important opportunities to improve outcomes. Organizational barriers can limit disclosure of pain and help-seeking behavior, and opioid education is not effectively integrated with workplace safety training and health promotion programs. </jats:p><jats:p> Policy development at the employer, government, and association levels could improve the workplace response to workers with OUD and reduce occupational risks that may be contributing factors. </jats:p>

Brief Report: Characteristics and Needs of Persons Admitted to an Inpatient Psychiatric Hospital With Workers' Compensation Coverage

“…In terms of the clinical characteristics and areas of need, the findings reported in this study are in line with the literature showing increased depression (24)(25)(26), substance use (27)(28)(29), and pain (30) among those who have experienced workplace injury. The literature has also described the co-occurrence and relationships between workplace injury, pain, depression, and substance use (30).…”

Promoting Opioid Awareness Through a Union-Based Peer Training Model

“…These are concrete upstream interventions that can play a part in the overall public health response to the opioid epidemic. 10 Although our training program worked in a union setting, other worker-focused organizations can learn from our experience to deploy effective programs. However, organizational commitment is essential to the success of training programs and to the leveraging of the impact of these programs to expand organizational capacity to address the crisis.…”

“…5 Although further epidemiologic research is being conducted to examine the mechanisms of these associations, public health prevention efforts should be targeted toward working populations who face such risk factors, as part of a comprehensive response to the crisis. 10…”

The Opioid/Overdose Crisis as a Dialectics of Pain, Despair, and One-Sided Struggle

“…They do not explore the mechanisms or time-trends that might contribute to workplace issues causing increasing substance use or overdoses by causing pain. A recent overview show the evidence for and importance of workplace environments in causing physical and psychological pain, opioid use and overdose deaths, but does not tie this into changes in union power and efficacy or to the economic and social changes tied to the one-sided class war (66).…”