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Vince Saavedra is the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Southern Nevada Construction Unions. The opinions are the author’s own.
When people think of the potential dangers of working on a construction site, the situations that usually come to mind are falling off scaffolding or being injured or killed by heavy machinery. These are certainly all very real risks. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that construction workers are already struggling greater number of fatal occupational accidents compared to any other profession.
However, according to a study conducted last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses, mainly from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, take the lives of more construction workers than anything else. It’s time to shine a light on this hidden crisis and ensure that all overdose treatments are available where they are needed most.
Vince Saavedra
Permit granted by Southern Nevada Construction Unions
Some workers in construction and other labor-intensive fields, especially those on short-term contracts, already start at a disadvantage; poor health coverage and little, if any, paid time off to recover from injuries. Driven by the initial need to get back to work quickly, self-medicating pain management can easily lead to addiction and death.
And, as I mentioned, overdoses are more deadly than dangerous work at work. In 2020, the BLS reported a Rate of fatal injuries at work for construction and extractive occupations of 13.5 deaths per 100,000 workers. That same year, the CDC reported that the group saw 162.6 drug overdose deaths for every 100,000 workers.
The challenges of trying to save lives and combat the stigma of drug addiction are enormous in an industry where physical injury is common, but making solutions and help more readily available can save lives.
Invisible workers deserve more respect
Since 2016, deaths in the US from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl they have more than tripled and, in 2022 more than 200 people were dying every day nationally from an overdose of synthetic opioids. However, access to specific synthetic opioid overdose reversal medications, such as Narcan, is still blocked in some states.
The Food and Drug Administration has already done so approved overdose rescue agents designed to counteract fentanyl. However, due to bureaucratic delays and paperwork, these lifesaving tools don’t always reach the frontline workers who need them. Each state must issue its own individual policy or standing order to allow access to and availability of FDA-approved products such as reversal agents for synthetic opioid overdoses, but not all states have done
My home state of Nevada has already taken steps to update our state policy to allow access to all overdose reversal tools, but our union brothers and sisters in several states are still waiting for policy makers to take this step.
The the construction sector has higher than average rates of recreational and non-prescription drug use, so the risk of unintentional overdoses is already high. Used in the production of counterfeit pharmaceuticals such as OxyContin, fentanyl is a lethal but cheap ingredient that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the CDC.
Every day, individuals in work and construction roles build the very world we live in, but often don’t see each other. They deserve the same respect, dignity and support as our own loved ones and friends. Ensuring that the most innovative and effective opioid reversal agents are available in all states is an important start.
