Opiates and the workplace

摘要

In the US, more people died in 2016 from drug overdoses than from car accidents and guns combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a Federal Agency. Two thirds of the overdoses involved a prescription or illicit opioid. The use of opioids is important to employers and workers because the drugs can cause impairment, absenteeism, reduced turnover and an increase in workplace injuries. UK employers also face an opiate problem, even if it has not reached - relatively or absolutely - US levels. Research and interventions are more extensive in the US so, in this feature, we look at the overall situation in the US and at a guideline on safety critical work, as well as at recent research into the effect of opiates on particular sectors and occupations in one state, Massachusetts.