Prescription opioid medications intended for pain management and prescription benzodiazepines for conditions such as anxiety or insomnia, when used alone or together, often have side effects that can affect workers’ health and safety.
This new fact sheet summarizes findings from the scientific literature and provides information from relevant CDC and NIOSH publications for employers and healthcare providers about the prescription use of opioids and benzodiazepines.
Pictured is page one of the fact sheet; all five pages can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2021-116/pdfs/2021-116.pdf?id=10.26616/NIOSHPUB2021116
OSHA’s Preventing Suicides webpage includes links with resources to combat the opioid epidemic and reduce the potential for opioid misuse and addiction: https://www.osha.gov/preventingsuicides