The Workplace Overdose Reversal Kits to Save Lives Act, bipartisan legislation recently reintroduced in the House and Senate, would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop employer guidance regarding acquiring opioid overdose-reversal medication and training workers to use it, according to Safety+Health magazine.
On Feb. 10, Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.) and John Rutherford (R-Fla.) introduced the legislation in the House, and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced it in the Senate.
Under the bill, OSHA would publish the nonmandatory guidance for private sector employers. However, federal agencies would be required to acquire and maintain opioid overdose-reversal medications and provide voluntary annual training to employees.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 80,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2024, with the majority involving opioids. According to CPWR—The Center for Construction Research and Training, construction workers overall account for about 17% of overdose deaths among the working population even though they are only about 8% of the U.S. workforce.
A National Safety Council press release said: “The odds of dying by opioid overdose in the United States are now higher than gun violence, vehicle crashes or suicide. Today, fatal overdoses account for 10% of workplace deaths, yet only 28% of employers report being fully stocked with naloxone at worksites, according to a recent NSC survey.”
Although House and Senate lawmakers introduced similar bills in September 2023, the bills did not advance out of committee.
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