Petition File No. 602
Naloxone inclusion, Sections 3400 & 1512
Petition File No. 602
National Safety Council (NSC)
Lorraine M. Martin, President and CEO
To amend Title 8, General Industry Safety Orders (GISO), section 3400, Medical Services and First Aid, and Construction Safety Orders (CSO) section 1512, Emergency Medical Services. The Petitioner requests to include a requirement to have opioid overdose reversal medication stocked at job sites and worker administration training as part of these regulations. The Petitioner notes that with the number of workplace overdose deaths on the rise, opioid overdose reversal medication is now an essential component of an adequate first-aid kit and that no industry or occupation is immune to this crisis
Petitioner states that workplace overdose deaths have increased 536 percent since 2011, that nationally, overdoses now account for nearly 1 in 11 worker deaths on the job, but, in California, over 18 percent of workplace fatalities in 2021 were due to an unintentional overdose. Including these medications at worksites – either in a first aid kit or elsewhere – and training employees to use it is a critical component of emergency response to help save a life and would help California combat the opioid crisis by ensuring worksites are appropriately equipped to respond to such an emergency.