Prescription-Drug Abuse Poses a Major Threat to Workplace Safety
Abuse of prescription painkillers is one of the top emerging threats to workplace safety and public health, National Safety Council CEO Janet Froetscher said Monday.
In a keynote address at the 2013 National Safety Congress and Expo in Chicago, Froetscher pointed out that 45 people die from abuse of prescription pain medications everyday – more than heroin and cocaine combined.
“For the first time since World War 2, the No. 1 cause of unintentional fatalities isn’t motor-vehicle crashes – it’s driven by the overdose of prescription painkillers,” Froetscher said.
The problem is creeping into workplaces, Froetscher added. She noted that painkiller abuse accounts for 10 percent of workers’ compensation costs.
“You may not think you’re seeing it in the workplace, but you are,” she said. “And we’re going to continue to see it more in the future.”
Abuse of prescription painkillers is just one of a number of emerging issues that EHS professionals will have to confront in the coming years, Froetscher said. The National Safety Council highlights these challenges in its latest safety agenda, unveiled Monday during the event in Chicago.
One major safety and health challenge stems from the changing face and shifting dynamics of the modern workforce.
“With downsizing and mergers, we all have to do more with less,” Froetscher explained. “That leads to longer hours, faster pace of work, stress, and fatigue.”
At the same time, employers are becoming increasingly more reliant on contractors and temporary workers, who “tend to work in riskier jobs with inadequate PPE and inadequate training,” Froetscher said.
Compounding the challenge is the trend toward telecommuting and working remotely.
“Sometimes we’re not working with our colleagues. Sometimes we’re not working with our supervisors. Sometimes we may not even be working with each other,” Froetscher explained. “So how do we think about keeping people safe when some of our employees are by themselves all the time?”
The National Safety Council’s safety agenda notes that these and other emerging workplace risks “are brought on by changes in the economy, how businesses are organized and demographic changes in American society.”
Recent Posts
Categories
Archives
- April 2021
- March 2021
- January 2021
- August 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- September 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- June 2018
- May 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- September 2017
- August 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- November 2007