Construction Work Tied to Higher Rate of Opioid Deaths

PHOENIX — Workers in construction or fishing jobs had the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts compared to workers in other occupations, likely due to a “perfect storm” of factors, a researcher for the state's public health department said during the Workers Compensation Research Institute conference on Thursday. In fact, construction workers accounted for a quarter of opioid overdose deaths in the study, which looked at death certificates of Massachusetts residents from 2011 to 2015. The study included 4,302 overdose deaths in which occupat...