Ryan will equip work sites with Narcan as more construction companies address mental health

Developer Ryan Cos. will distribute the drug naloxone at 100 construction sites and train 2,000 employees on overdose-response techniques as part of an enhanced mental health services for employees, officials announced Monday.

The drug, which is better known by brand name Narcan, will also be placed in 17 Minneapolis-based Ryan corporate offices by the end of summer, officials said.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently reported the sector has one of the construction highest instances of opioid abuse in the nation. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) noted overdose deaths among construction workers increased nine times from 2011 to 2018.

The CDC also found one of three construction workers suffers from soft-tissue injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis and rotator cuff injuries. Prescription of opioid pain killers was found to be three times higher among construction workers with those ailments.

"The opioid epidemic has severely impacted the construction industry in recent years, and we realize it's more important now than ever for our teams to have access to life-saving opioid reversal medication," said John Gaddini, Ryan's safety director. "Our hope is that employees will never have to administer naloxone but with the training they will receive, they will be ready to act in the event of a life-threatening scenario."

Ryan's nationwide effort with naloxone is launching during Mental Health Awareness Month and National Construction Safety Week. It comes after Ryan joined ranks in March with the new White House Challenge to Save Lives From Overdose.

The move is the latest in a swirl of actions taken to reduce the number of opioid-related deaths in the construction industry.

Ryan, which built several high-profile Twin Cities projects such as CHS Field in St. Paul, has about 2,000 employees in 17 states and regularly works with hundreds more subcontractors.

Ryan will partner with the nonprofit Safe Project to make sure its employees know how to use the highly effective naloxone drug in the event of an overdoses on the jobsite or office.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved naloxone for non-prescription, over-the-counter use for the first time. The drug is increasingly being tucked into first aid kits in classrooms, college campuses and now worksites as Americans strive to combat a national epidemic.

The number of Minnesotans dying from opioid overdoses rose 43% to 1,002 deaths between 2020 and 2022, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Last year, the 3,500-member International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 (DC 82) and the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest (FTIUM), both in Little Canada, began offering mental health and substance abuse services to members and and staffing its union halls with Narcan in an effort to curb deaths by overdoses and suicide.

The carpenters union hall in St. Paul is considering a similar move, officials said.