The opioid overdose crisis is disproportionately affecting people working in the trades and construction. Other substances such as alcohol and cannabis are also of concern. To support employers and workers in these sectors, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction has partnered with Health Canada to produce a toolkit of resources. It’s called Substance Use and the Workplace: Supporting Employers and Employees in the Trades.
This collection of resources is aimed at helping employers address employee substance use, particularly among young men working in the trades. Employers can find ready-to-use resources from more than 30 organizations to learn how to reduce risks related to substances and substance use disorder, and to support workplace health and safety. The toolkit includes resources to help:
• Educate employees about substances and their effects,
• Prevent substance use harms,
• Address employee substance use,
• Find services and supports, and
• Access related information from key reports and organizations.
Included among the resources are four new CCSA posters. Designed to be printed and shared, they provide accessible information on the opioid overdose crisis and ways to address it:
• What Are Opioids?
• Canada’s Opioid Crisis: What You Should Know
• Canada’s Opioid Crisis: How You Can Help
• Opioids and Pain Management
We encourage you to share this toolkit of resources across your networks, especially with employers in construction, trades and transport. Together, we can help prevent more deaths and harms from the opioid crisis and substance use in the workplace.
For more information on workplace safety and substance use, please visit CCSA’s Workplace Safety web page.
