Workers who are injured or become ill on the job were significantly more likely to die of an opioid-related overdose, new state data shows. 

In a first-of-its kind study for the state, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) found that the percentage of people who were injured at work and died of an overdose from 2011 to 2020 was 35 percent higher than the percentage of all working-age people in the state who died of the same cause. 

The data, study authors wrote, is a critical step in determining the link between work-associated injury and pain and opioid prescription and disorder.  

“This finding is consistent with evidence suggesting common use of prescribed opioids for the management of acute and chronic pain following a work-related injury,” the authors wrote.

Authors: analysis of this kind was not previously possible

The study analyzed the deaths of some 4,300 Massachusetts workers who had at least one workers compensation claim between 2011 and 2020. This number represented just under 4 percent of all workers between 16 to 64 years old who died during this time. 

Fatal opioid overdoses represented about 12.7 percent of deaths for all residents of working age, the study showed. This was roughly 5 percent lower than opioid overdoses for residents injured at work — for that cohort, fatal overdoses represented 17.2 percent of deaths.  

The study used the DPH’s Public Health Data Warehouse to link information about people’s employment and work injury history with death certificate data, providing a more comprehensive look into the connection between workplace injury and cause of death. This kind of analysis was not previously possible based on data just from death certificates, the study authors wrote. 

Construction workers, men more likely to suffer fatal overdoses

Among workers who were injured on the job and later died, those who died from opioid overdoses were more likely to be construction or food workers than they were to work in other industries, the study found.

“[A] group that continues to be adversely affected by the opioid epidemic are workers in industries and occupations that require very physically demanding work and that have workplace injury rates much higher than the overall rate for all workers,” study authors wrote. 

Construction workers, though only representing 4 percentage of the state’s workforce, accounted for the highest percentage of deaths from any cause. Other sectors with high rates of overdoses included farming, fishing, and forestry.

Men, people between 25 and 55 years of age, Hispanic people, and those born in the U.S. were also more likely to die of opioid overdoses than their peers in other groups, the study showed. 

“While there were lower numbers of deaths among residents of color who were injured at work compared with white non-Hispanics, it is worth noting that in Massachusetts, Hispanic workers suffer the highest rate of death from workplace injury and, in the U.S., both Hispanic and Black workers disproportionately work in the most dangerous jobs,” study results read. 

Common types of injuries suffered by workers who died of overdoses included back sprains and punctures and lacerations. 

Future studies will focus on opioid prescriptions, practices among workers

Previously, DPH found that fatal opioid overdoses among residents of working age tripled over the past decade. In 2011, there were 15.3 overdoses per 100,000 workers, which jumped to 49.6 per 100,000 workers in 2020. 

Last week, CDC released data that showed fatal opioid deaths in Massachusetts decreased by more than 10 percent in 2023 — the first time the number has decreased in four years. 

Study authors wrote that future work will focus on the “burden of opioid use” among workers and the impact of prescription opioids on addiction and overdose. 

“Concurrent with these data analysis efforts, stakeholders across Massachusetts, including Massachusetts Department of Public Health, are intervening in novel ways to educate workers about the debilitating effects of opioids and to prevent or reduce opioid use among different worker groups,” authors wrote. “In addition to engaging workers in these efforts, stakeholders are also engaging employers and labor leadership.”