Opioids in the Home Building Industry: Making it Your Business

Opioid addiction is our nation’s leading public health crisis, and it affects people across all socioeconomic classes, races, genders and jobs. The home building industry is no exception.

Get the facts:

• Overdoses left more than 107,000 Americans dead in 2021, an all-time high.
• Of the more than 93,000 Americans who died from drug-involved overdoses in 2020, nearly 70,000 died from opioid-involved overdoses driven by a proliferation of fentanyl.
• Around 15% of all construction workers in the United States have a substance abuse disorder compared to 8.6% of the general population of adults.
• Construction workers represent about 25% of fatal opioid overdoses among all workers.
• Opioid addiction often begins after being prescribed the drugs after an injury.

The impact on a business can be significant and includes loss of productivity, healthcare expenses, absenteeism, turnover and much more. NAHB is pleased to provide a private sector slate of helpful resources and possible solutions to stem the tide of the opioid epidemic’s reach into the home building industry. These tools will complement similar efforts by federal, state and local governments and healthcare organizations.

NAHB and its partners, Job-Site Safety Institute, Advocates for Human Potential, Inc., and SAFE Project are taking an innovative approach to addressing opioid use and misuse, viewing the problem holistically and creating solutions and educational resources that address intervention points across the spectrum of prevention, treatment, recovery and return-to-work. A proactive approach to this crisis with knowledge and without stigma is critical to the health of the industry and the people who work in it.

NAHB strongly encourages members to explore taking the No Same Pledge in their companies to create a welcoming environment for workers who might be struggling.

Together, we’re Making Opioids our Business.