The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Occupational Health Program is working on a special emphasis program to encourage employers to recognize and support employees with an Opioid Use Disorder or any type of substance abuse to seek treatment and recovery. 

In 2017, the Occupational Health Unit organized two full-day conferences (March 1, 2017 and October 4, 2017) with over 250 stakeholders and business leaders from labor, insurance, and medical communities.  The conferences helped attendees identify best-practices and innovative strategies to help employers and employees combat the opioid crisis with a new proactive approach to deal with substance use/abuse in their workplaces.

Employers, HR representatives, workers compensation specialists, collective bargaining representative/union officers, and physicians treating a current employee who are interested in learning more about these symposia, information can be found below.

• The Opioid Crisis and Connecticut's Workforce Report, November 28, 2018
• The Opioid Crisis and Connecticut's Workforce Brochure, November 28, 2018
• The Opioid Crisis and Connecticut's Workforce Symposium, October 4, 2017
• Injured Workers and Opioid use Symposium, March 1, 2017

Resources and Partnerships

• BROOKINGS - The Economic Impact of the Opioid Epidemic: Labor Supply and the Workplace (April 18, 2023)

For more information, please contact Deborah Pease at Deborah.Pease@ct.gov