Articles Tagged with ''opioid epidemic''

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) joined NSC President and CEO, Deborah Hersman, for a press unveiling of the Prescribed to Death opioid memorial on Monday at the National Safety Council Congress & Expo in Houston. The memorial has been touring the country since last November, stopping in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Buffalo, N.Y., Fayetteville Ark., and Washington, D.C., where it sat on the South Lawn of the White House.

Employers’ responsibilities regarding their workers’ mental health, the FDA bans cancer-causing food chemicals and the NTSB issues preliminary information on the investigation into the recent massive natural gas blast explosions in Massachusetts. These were among the stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Perhaps you read about the NIOSH study published in late August that found construction workers die of drug overdoses (not while on the job) at a rate six times higher than the general work population. Heroin was the main killer, followed by prescription opioids.

What are the big headlines in the respiratory protection world this year? Here are three areas safety and health professionals are watching closely.

Workplaces are not immune to the opioid epidemic in the U.S., which means employers are grappling with ways to manage and react to factors that affect their workforce and its health and productivity.

The statistics are numbing. Drug overdoses killed 64,070 people in the U.S. in 2016. The death toll was up 21 percent over 2015. All indications are it will be even higher when the 2017 numbers are determined, according to the CDC. Overdoses are more than an epidemic; they’re a national crisis.

The severity of the opioid epidemic is well-documented. In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that drug overdose deaths in the United States more than tripled from 1999 to 2015.[1] From 2015 to 2016, opioid overdose deaths increased by more than 20 percent—rising from 52,898 in 2016 to 64,070 deaths in 2017.[2]

June is National Safety Month, an opportunity to help prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths at work, on the roads, and in our homes and communities. With this year’s theme, No 1 Gets Hurt, we are encouraging readers to think of at least one change you can make to improve safety this month.

Congress did right by public health in the FY 2018 budget it passed recently, according to the American Public Health Association (APHA). “By increasing funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and other health agencies, Congress has shown its commitment to improving the health of all communities and investing in activities that keep our country healthy and safe,” according to a statement released by the organization.

The nation’s largest professional psychological organization would like to see treatment emphasized over punishment when it comes to dealing with the opioid crisis. That view from the American Psychological Association (APA) contrasts with the plan this week unveiled by President Trump to address the opioid epidemic.