Combating opioid use in mining: New guide from MSHA and NIOSH

Washington — Employers can help prevent opioid use disorder among mine workers through a series of strategies, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and NIOSH emphasize in a new resource guide.

“It’s not a single intervention; it’s a multitude of things,” acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told Safety+Health. “And employers playing a key role in supporting their workers, creating an environment that’s safe for people to talk and to get the issues addressed and to seek treatment and not lose their jobs are all pieces of that.”

Su used those examples to address a common path that leads miners to struggle with opioid use disorder: The nature of work often is physically demanding, leading to potential pain and injury. As a result, miners and construction workers “have been prescribed opioids more often, at higher doses and for longer periods of time than workers in other industries,” the resource states.

Treating chronic pain may lead to long-term prescription opioid use “as mine workers continue to work from fear of losing income, injuries do not heal and risk of opioid use disorder increases.”

MSHA and NIOSH encourage employers to:

• Remove hazards that may cause worker injuries and pain.
• Improve existing policies around paid sick leave, access to non-opioid treatments and mental health services.
• Reduce physical and mental demands and tasks.
• Educate workers and supervisors on non-opioid treatments for pain.
• Encourage workers to seek treatment.

The resource offers additional guidance about emerging workplace strategies to help prevent opioid use disorders, including developing recovery-friendly workplace principles and offering the opioid-reversal medication naloxone in workplaces.

“This tool is only useful if people actually use it, so it’s meant to be very practical,” Su said. “And we encourage employers to take advantage of it, to use it and to talk to other employers. Certainly, when an entire industry raises their standards, it’s helpful, obviously, for workers, but it also improves the industry as a whole.”