MA Dept. of Health Announces Steps to Reduce Opioid Misuse in Job-Related Injuries

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MA Dept. of Health Announces Steps to Reduce Opioid Misuse in Job-Related Injuries

MA Dept. of Health announces steps to reduce opioid misuse in job-related injuries
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is taking steps in order to keep job-related injuries from leading to opioid misuse.

According to a recent study that they conducted, the rate of fatal opioid overdoses varied significantly by industry and occupation from 2011 to 2015, with construction workers dying from opioid overdoses at six times the average rate for all Massachusetts workers.

“These findings are significant because they identify the industries and occupations where strategies can be developed to intervene before injuries occur. The Baker-Polito Administration uses data to identify the highest risk in order to develop specific services to mitigate these trends,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders.

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The Study

Using available death certificate data, DPH analyzed 4,302 opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts from 2011 to 2015 by industry and occupation to understand whether work, and specifically work-related injuries, might have contributed to opioid use disorders.

Overall, workers employed in occupations known to have high rates of work-related injuries had higher rates of fatal opioid overdoses.

In addition, workers in occupations with lower rates of paid sick leave and higher job insecurity had higher rates of opioid overdoses. Construction and extraction workers (quarrying and mining) accounted for more than 24 percent of all opioid-related deaths among the working population.

This occupation group had a high death rate - 150.6 deaths per 100,000 workers - and a high number of opioid-related deaths - 1,096 - during this time period.

The report was created by DPH’s Occupational Health Surveillance Program (OHSP), in collaboration with the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, Injury Surveillance Program, and Office of Special Analytic Projects, and was funded by the CDC. 

Addressing the Findings

The Massachusetts Department of Health has also taken steps to address the findings of the report.

The steps include:

  • Conducting additional research, with support from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to assess the extent to which work-related injuries serve as an initiation for opioid pain medication, leading to opioid misuse
  • Working on the development and implementation of an educational outreach plan targeting high-risk worker groups
  • Conducting outreach to involve stakeholders in identifying and developing intervention strategies to prevent opioid misuse among high-risk working populations 

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