Training on Occupational Exposure to Fentanyl, Other Opioids Updated

A training program for emergency responders and other workers who may encounter fentanyl and other opioids on the job was recently updated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program (WTP). The tool is intended to provide awareness-level training to these workers on the prevention of occupational exposure to fentanyl and other opioids. Course objectives include training participants to recognize occupations with potential exposure to these hazards, describe major signs and symptoms of opioid exposure, explain basic work practices and control measures to protect workers from fentanyl and other opioids, and discuss methods for decontamination and clean-up.

Updates to the training tool include five new participatory activities and improvements to the program’s structure and flow, according to WTP’s weekly e-newsletter. Additional updates have to do with statistics, guidance, references, and resources that are also part of the training tool.

The updated training program is available to download for free in PowerPoint and PDF format from 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.