Ontario proposes to mandate naloxone kits in high-risk workplaces

The Ford government wants workplaces that are at risk of a worker opioid overdose to have naloxone kits.

New legislation would also introduce the highest fines in Canada for companies that fail to follow workplace health and safety laws.

“Everyone in our province knows someone who has been impacted by the opioid epidemic,” says Monte McNaughton, minister of labour, training and skills development.

According to the provincial government, approximately 2,500 people died from opioid-related causes between March 2020 and January 2021.

Of the victims who were employed, 30 per cent were construction workers.

Bars and nightclubs are also seeing increased opioid usage, which often involve recreational drugs laced with deadly opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanil.

“The more places there are that have naloxone, the more chance we have at saving a life,” says Brandon Bailey, a local advocate for naloxone kits.

“If you just happen to have that kit on hand, that doesn’t mean people are going to be using.”

The proposed legislation also requires training so workers are familiar with how to use naloxone kits, but one business owner has concerns.

“What are the risks to my workers? What are the risks regards to liability for me and companies,” says Renaldo Agostino, owner of Turbo Espresso Bar.

The downtown business owner would like to help but believes there may be a better solution to solving the opioid crisis.

“One of the things we talked about years ago was having free test centres where people could go and get their drugs tested without getting into any trouble for it,” Agostino tells CTV News Windsor.

On Tuesday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit said eight opioid overdoses were reported by local hospitals, between Feb. 21 and Feb. 27.

Six involved fentanyl.