Industry response to problem must 'go beyond the workplace'
Ontario construction workers accounted for a huge share of opioid toxicity deaths in the province, according to a new report.
Specifically, a total of 428 opioid toxicity deaths among individuals who had a history of employment in the construction industry from July 2017 to the end of 2020 in Ontario, according to the new report which was prepared on behalf of The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, The office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario/Ontario Forensic Pathology Service and Public Health Ontario.
This equates to 7.9 per cent (or one in 13) of the 5,386 total opioid toxicity deaths in the province during the period, according to the report titled Lives Lost to Opioid Toxicity among Ontarians Who Worked in the Construction Industry.
“Our findings demonstrate that those with a history of employment in the construction industry are disproportionately impacted by opioid toxicity deaths in Ontario, with a lower proportion of these deaths involving pharmaceutical opioids prescribed for pain and a higher proportion involving fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol, compared to those with no employment history in construction,” said Tara Gomes and the other researchers of the report.
Similarly, nearly one in 13 opioid-related deaths in Ontario between 2018 and 2020 occurred among construction workers, according to a separate report from researchers from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN) at St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, ICES, the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario and Public Health Ontario.
Nearly six in 10 (57.7 per cent) of individuals in the construction industry were known to be employed at the time of opioid toxicity death, compared to only 11.7 per cent of those with no employment history in the construction industry, according to the new report.
In contrast, there was a higher degree of unemployment at the time of death (51.0 per cent) among individuals with no employment history in construction compared with those who were employed in construction (36.9 per cent).
“With over half of individuals in the construction industry employed at [the] time of opioid-related death, industry-level responses to the ongoing overdose crisis would likely be beneficial; although these responses would need to extend beyond the workplace given the high rate of toxicity deaths occurring within private residences,” said Gomes et. al.
When it comes to living arrangements among individuals who died of opioid toxicity in Ontario, 83.9 per cent of those with an employment history in construction lived in a private dwelling.
According to the federal government, between January 2016 and September 2018, more than 10,300 Canadians died from an apparent opioid-related overdose.
