Online Course Seeks to Increase Awareness of Opioids in the Workplace

A new web-based training program offered by the Center for Public Health Workforce Development at the Rutgers School of Public Health is intended for workers and employers who may be affected by the opioid crisis. The one-hour course is free and is based on the Opioids and the Workplace Training Tool developed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Worker Training Program. The course covers topics such as workplace risk factors and solutions for opioid use, misuse, and addiction. According to Rutgers, participants who complete the course will learn about the scope and severity of the opioid crisis; how workplace injuries and illnesses, working conditions, and opioid use disorder are related; and actions that can help prevent and respond to opioid use and misuse in the workplace. Individuals who complete the training as well as a short evaluation will receive a certificate of completion.

The NIEHS Worker Training Program also offers a leadership course on opioids and the workplace and an awareness-level training program for emergency responders and other workers who may encounter fentanyl and other opioids on the job. Earlier this year, NIEHS published a new document that highlights examples of initiatives to prevent opioid misuse and promote recovery-friendly workplace programs.

The new one-hour online course on opioids and the workplace can be accessed via the Rutgers website. Tools on opioids and substance use and the workplace can be found on the NIEHS website.

Related: “Confronting Two Crises,” a feature article authored by members of AIHA’s Opioids Working Group and published in the January 2021 Synergist focuses on how industrial hygienists can contribute to solving the combined crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid epidemic. The authors previously presented a session at AIHce EXP 2019 on emergency preparedness and training for workers at risk of exposure to opioids.