• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • WCW HOME
  • Submit a Wire!
  • Advertising
  • Media Partners
  • About
  • Contact Us

WorkCompWire

Your Trusted Source for Workers Compensation News

Enlyte
  • Workers Compensation News
    • Workers Compensation Industry News
    • Association, Rating & Research News
    • Claims, Legal, & Compliance News
    • Legislative & Regulatory News
    • Risk Management News
    • Work Force & Human Resource News
  • Featured Articles
  • Leaders Speak
  • Editor’s Forum
  • People On The Move

NSC Highlights CDC Data Showing Overdose Deaths Reached New High During Pandemic

December 9, 2021 - WorkCompWire

Itasca, IL – According to new provisional data from the CDC, drug overdose deaths between April 2020 and April 2021 topped 100,000, marking a record number of lives claimed in a 12-month period. While the National Safety Council (NSC) is grieving the loss of so many lives, NSC is also dedicated to turning this aggressive wake-up call into motivation for employers to use every resource available to keep workers healthy and safe.

“For years, the United States has accepted drug overdoses as a tragic but unavoidable reality,” said Jenny Burke, NSC senior director, impairment practice. “We know what to do to save lives, but as a nation, we have not consistently prioritized eliminating these deaths. We must all do our part if we are to reverse this deadly trend, and that includes all members of our communities, with a special call on employers.”

The employers’ role is a universal gap NSC identified. Seventy-five percent of employers have been directly impacted by employee opioid misuse, according to NSC surveys. Only 17% feel very confident that they can address the problem effectively. In response, NSC developed several resources including an employer toolkit and a one-hour eLearning course to equip supervisors and safety professionals with the ability to recognize and respond to perceived impairment in the workplace. This training covers:

  • The importance of recognizing and responding to impairment
  • Supervisor responsibilities when recognizing impairment
  • Common causes of impairment (alcohol, cannabis, fatigue, mental distress and more)
  • Common signs and symptoms of impairment
  • The NSC original six steps to respond to potential impairment
  • Other considerations, including:
    • Human Resources involvement
    • Prevention
    • Laws and regulations

In 2020, in collaboration with more than 60 organizations and companies, NSC also released a comprehensive National Plan to Address Opioid Misuse. The plan’s unique recommendations take into account the many factors, systems and players that have a role in the lifecycle of addiction – from prevention to recovery, from education to the criminal justice system, from prescribers to employers.

When the U.S. is losing an average of 235 lives a day to a drug overdose, action must be taken to save lives. NSC implores employers to work with us to seek training and implement programs to identify and combat opioid misuse and impairment in the workplace.

For more information or to purchase training: NSC’s Impairment Recognition and Response Training

Source: NSC

Filed Under: Industry News, Risk Management News, Top Stories, Work Force & Human Resource News, Workers' Compensation

Primary Sidebar

Get Our Free Newsletter:

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: WorkCompWire.com, PO Box 1114, Culver City, CA, 90232, http://www.workcompwire.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

myMatrixx

Paradigm

MSQ

Follow Us on Twitter

Tweets by WorkCompWire

Workers Compensation News Topics

  • Top Stories
  • Featured Articles
  • Leaders Speak
  • Editor’s Forum
  • The RxProfessor
  • Industry News
  • Association, Rating & Research News
  • People On The Move
  • Claims, Legal, & Compliance News
  • Legislative & Regulatory News
  • Risk Management News
  • Work Force & Human Resource News
  • Workers’ Compensation

Wire Archives

Copyright WorkCompWire © 2023