The union says it wants to remove barriers for workers to access kits by handing them out from the office, where many come to ask about new jobs

A Victoria carpenters’ union is offering naloxone kits and training to its members in an effort to address the disproportionate impact of the toxic-drug crisis on construction-industry workers.

The Carpenters’ Regional Council in Victoria is distributing the opioid overdose-reversing kits from its Quadra Street office and providing a brief training on the spot to any interested members.

The construction industry has been hit hard by the crisis. The Health Ministry said last year that of deaths due to toxic drug poisoning where someone’s job was known, nearly 20 per cent of those who died worked in the trades, transport or as equipment operators.

“We’ve known for a long time now that our industry, the broader construction industry, has been under siege from this toxic drug issue,” said Matt Carlow, union representative of the Carpenters’ Regional Council in Victoria.

Carlow said the union wants to remove barriers for workers to access kits by handing them out from the office, where many come to ask about new jobs and seek answers to other industry questions.

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