Underground Infrastructure - January 2023 - 26

Mental Health
of construction workers have an opioid use disorder, almost
twice the national average, according to a report from the
National Safety Council.
It does not help that so many in construction are continuously
prescribed opioids to deal with their pain. Almost three
out of four injured construction workers were prescribed a
narcotic painkiller in 2016. Opioids account for 20 percent of
the total spending on prescription drugs in the construction industry,
a higher amount than any other industry, according to a
report by CNA Financial.
Opioids are a " gateway drug " that often starts the journey to
long-term addiction. In many cases, a worker will become addicted
to a prescription and turn to other drugs for pain management
when it runs out. These non-prescription and often illegal drugs
result in overdose deaths and suicides using those same drugs.
A recent study from Washington University in St. Louis
measured the risk of developing opioid use disorder among
more than 19,000 union construction workers, from January
2015 to June 2018.
Researchers found that construction workers prescribed
opioids for musculoskeletal pain had a significantly higher risk
for long‐term opioid use and developing opioid use disorder.
Annually, 15 percent of workers who were prescribed opioids
became long‐term users. Also, long-term users were nearly 10
times as likely to develop opioid use disorder.
What can we do to help? Start by increasing awareness so
everyone can help recognize this issue. If you do not know, you
cannot help.
the national average. According to data from the National
Survey on Drug Use, conducted by the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Administration, nearly 15 percent of all construction
workers in the U.S. have a substance abuse disorder
compared to 8.6 percent of the general adult population.
Other revealing statistics from this study pertaining to construction
workers include:
* 12 percent have an alcohol use disorder compared to
7.5 percent nationally
* 16.5 percent reported heavy alcohol consumption
within the past month, which is nearly twice the
average of all full-time workers surveyed
* 11.6 percent reported illicit drug use within the past month
* 14.3 percent were diagnosed with a substance use disorder
in the past year - more than 1.5 times the average of
all full-time workers surveyed
* 2.3 percent have a marijuana use disorder
Opioid epidemic
Still, it is the opioid epidemic that has hit the industry the
hardest, and workers in this field are among the most susceptible
to opioid abuse. It is estimated that roughly 1.3 percent
26 JANUARY 2023 | UndergroundInfrastructure.com
Encourage workers to reach out when in need. Find employee
assistance programs that will work with your company and
safety team to create an anonymous source for workers to get
help when needed. Discuss the different resources openly with
your workers and ensure th eresources are readily available.
Tthe most powerful tool we have as an industry is to educate
workers about the mental health issues plaguing our industry
and eliminate the stigma. Create toolbox talks to " normalize
the conversation, " because progress cannot be made without a
cultural change in construction. The greater the education and
understanding, the closer we will get to eliminating the stigma
that keeps workers from facing their inner demons.
I hope you will agree that this is a critical safety topic for
the construction industry's future. We will have a breakout
session at the Underground Construction Technology (UCT)
Conference & Exhibition in February in the Rehab Zone area.
Please come to learn more about the issues, some solutions and
resources to help end the epidemic. UI
HARRY MILLER is vice president and director of safety
and labor relations at SAK Construction in O'Fallon, Mo.
Hired in 2015, he is credited with elevating SAK's safety
programs to one of the industry's best safety programs.
Before SAK, Miller worked as a division safety manager with Black & Veatch,
a global engineering, consulting, construction and operations company.
http://www.UndergroundInfrastructure.com
Underground Infrastructure - January 2023

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