Current regulations state it’s up to employers to include naloxone in their first aid kits
One group in British Columbia is calling on the provincial government to provide construction sites and other high-risk workplaces with naloxone kits for employees.
C. Michael Kinsella, founder of The New PPE (Pioneering Protection for Everybody), wants the B.C. government to create a law similar to Ontario’s Workplace Naloxone Program, according to a report.
Under the program – launched in April 2023 – the Ontario government provides businesses throughout the province with nasal-spray naloxone kits, providing immediate access to life-saving intervention. Employers also have the option to obtain their own naloxone kits for their workplaces.
In B.C., the naloxone available free from pharmacies requires drawing liquid from a glass vial into a syringe and then injecting it. The Vancouver Sun reports that Kinsella believes it would be much easier to squirt the medication into a collapsed co-worker’s nose to save their life, including:
- Workers on construction sites typically wear heavy protective gear and clothing that might need to be partly removed for the injection.
- Construction sites are often dusty and dirty, which could lead to contamination of the needle.
- Most trades workers don’t have the medical knowledge to quickly use a syringe during an emergency.
- The smaller nasal kits can fit in a tool belt, while the larger needle ones would likely be stored farther away in a first aid kit.
Since Kinsella started his advocacy work in January through his non-profit, Kinsella said about 50 people in the industry have signed a letter of support, according to the Vancouver Sun report.
“We’re all for it,” said Justin Reitz, who founded Delta-based RiteTech Construction, which specializes in concrete, two decades ago, in the report.
Minister commits to buying nasal naloxone for BC
In April, The New PPE wrote a letter to both Jennifer Whiteside, minister of additions, and Harry Bains, minister of labour to ask them to make nasal naloxone a safety requirement for every construction site.
Whiteside promised to buy tens of thousands of nasal naloxone kits for B.C., according to the report. Meanwhile, Bains did not commit to making nasal naloxone mandatory.
Currently, regulations in B.C. do not require employers to provide naloxone kits. That decision is up to the employers, noted the Vancouver Sun, citing WorkSafeBC.
