Opioid abuse building
Construction workers most likely to abuse Rx drugs, study finds, due to on-site dangers and resulting pain
IT’S the most dangerous job in America.
Construction workers are the most likely to fall victim to the opioid epidemic, according to a recent NYU report.
The study, which gathered responses from over 290,000 workers in 13 different professions, found that 3.4 percent of the construction workers in the survey were misusing painkillers. The average rate of misuse in other careers was about 2 percent.
For recovering addict Elvin “Elbo” Krigsman, a union painter for two decades who works in Manhattan, the results aren’t surprising. His colleagues are constantly complaining of pain, especially back pain. Some become addicted to the painkillers they turn to for relief.
Krigsman got hooked on opioids in his youth by “hanging out with the wrong people,” and went on to serve time for dealing ecstasy and seconddegree robbery. He quit only after his brother died of an overdose in 2013, and used his time in lockup to get clean.
He says he’s been sober for six years — and that prescription drug addiction is the elephant in the room of his profession. “People want to keep it undercover because they’re scared they’ll lose their job,” he tells The Post.
Research by the National Institutes of Health confirms that lower-back pain is the most common workplace injury and reason for missing shifts. Opioids are one of the most common treatments for that, according to New England Journal of Medicine’s Catalyst blog.
The new workplace study’s lead author, professor Danielle Ompad of NYU’s College of Global Public Health, agrees that pain and painkillers may be behind the construction industry’s high addiction numbers, although she noted that her researchers didn’t ask why, or when, people used drugs.
“My guess is the individuals are still in pain and still trying to treat that pain, or in the process of treating that pain they may have become dependent on opioids,” Ompad said.
The injury rate for construction workers is 77 percent higher than the national average for all types of workers, according to the Midwest Economics Policy Institute. It also found that 15 percent of construction site laborers have a history of substance abuse.
There’s also the issue of workplace culture. Some construction employers don’t require a degree or clean record, so Krigsman says there are “a lot of people” with criminal backgrounds and a history of drug use.
Construction employers do, however, often enforce a “zero-tolerance” policy when it comes to illicit drug use at work. The rule can be so unforgiving that Krigsman claims he’s avoided telling his supervisors about injuries on the job because he “was scared” they would make him take a urine test.
This approach also means that there’s not much support at work for employees when it comes to personal struggles with substance abuse.
Ompad, too, says that this unforgiving policy is hurting workers. She believes that zero-tolerance “seems to not have a huge association with lower prevalence of . . . non-prescription opioids” and suggests employers gain a better understanding of addiction and treatment — and a bit more sympathy.
“Drug testing can result in a really good worker being fired,” she says. “We can probably come up with better ways to support companies and their workers.”