Bipartisan Push to Equip Workplaces with Naloxone as Overdoses Climb

A bipartisan coalition in Congress is advancing legislation that would formalize workplace access to overdose reversal medications, targeting a gap that safety experts say leaves most American employers unprepared despite widespread exposure to opioid use among employees and customers.

The Workplace Overdose Reversal Kits (WORK) to Save Lives Act, introduced this week in both chambers, would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to develop national guidance on acquiring, deploying, and training staff to use naloxone—the nasal spray that can reverse opioid overdoses within minutes.

Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, one of the bill's cosponsors, framed the proposal as an urgent response to data showing his state's overdose deaths rose an estimated 5 to 10 percent in 2025 compared to the prior year, bucking a tentative national decline. "New Mexicans know too well the heartache of losing a loved one to opioids," Heinrich said in a statement Monday. "We need to tackle this epidemic with the urgency it demands."

A Mismatch Between Exposure and Preparedness

The legislation responds directly to a National Safety Council survey showing that while three-quarters of employers report opioid use affecting their operations, fewer than one in five say they are adequately equipped to address it. That divide reflects a broader pattern: naloxone has become standard issue for paramedics and many police departments, but private-sector adoption remains spotty even as fentanyl-contaminated supplies push overdose risks into settings far beyond traditional drug-use environments.

Construction sites, warehouses, retail floors, and office buildings have all seen overdoses in recent years, yet no federal standard currently requires businesses to stock reversal kits or train managers in their use. The WORK Act would not impose a mandate but would establish baseline guidance, giving employers a clear federal reference point and potentially shielding them from liability concerns that have slowed voluntary adoption in some industries.

The bill's Senate sponsors include Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, with additional backing from Senators Adam Schiff of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon. In the House, Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat, and John Rutherford, a Florida Republican, are leading the companion measure. A dozen additional House members from both parties have signed on.

The National Safety Council and Global Health Advocacy Incubator have endorsed the legislation, pointing to workplace naloxone programs in states like Ohio and Rhode Island that have documented reversals during work hours.

Fentanyl's Reach Beyond Traditional Boundaries

The shift toward workplace naloxone mirrors broader changes in how public health officials think about overdose prevention. Fentanyl's potency—up to fifty times stronger than heroin—has collapsed the time window for intervention, making the location of naloxone as important as its availability. A person who ingests fentanyl unknowingly or underestimates its concentration may have only minutes before respiratory failure sets in.

That compressed timeline has driven expansion into schools, libraries, gyms, and transit hubs. Some states now require naloxone in public buildings; others have launched distribution programs through community organizations. But private employers, who collectively employ more than 120 million Americans, have largely operated without federal direction.

Heinrich has made opioid policy a legislative priority, securing passage earlier this year of language requiring the Drug Enforcement Administration to build a comprehensive fentanyl tracking system documenting seizure locations, chemical compositions, and probable manufacturing origins. He also helped direct $3 million in federal grants to New Mexico tribal communities for culturally specific treatment programs, including medication for opioid use disorder.

The Limits of Naloxone Alone

Harm reduction advocates generally support workplace naloxone bills but caution that reversal medications address only the immediate crisis, not the underlying disorder. Naloxone restores breathing and consciousness but does not eliminate cravings, withdrawal, or the circumstances that led to use in the first place.

The most effective interventions pair emergency response with pathways to treatment—something the WORK Act does not directly address. OSHA guidance could theoretically incorporate referral protocols or information on medication-assisted treatment options, but the bill's text does not specify those elements.

Some workplace health experts argue that naloxone programs risk becoming performative unless accompanied by changes in how employers handle substance use disclosures, insurance coverage for addiction treatment, and job protections for workers in recovery. A 2024 study in JAMA Network Open found that employees who feared termination were significantly less likely to seek help for opioid use disorder, even when employer-sponsored health plans covered buprenorphine and counseling.

Still, the immediate availability of naloxone has prevented deaths in documented cases, and proponents argue that equipping workplaces is a necessary if insufficient step. The bill's bipartisan structure suggests it could advance further than more ambitious proposals that have stalled over questions of employer liability, insurance mandates, or federal spending.

New Mexico's Escalating Crisis

Heinrich's focus on the issue reflects conditions in New Mexico, where overdose rates have climbed even as some other states report modest improvements. Data from the state's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, a federally supported law enforcement initiative, estimates that fatal overdoses increased between 5 and 10 percent from 2024 to 2025, driven largely by fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Rural areas have been disproportionately affected, with limited access to emergency medical services compounding delays in naloxone administration. Mobile health units and community paramedicine programs have expanded in some counties, but coverage remains inconsistent.

The state has also struggled with pharmacy deserts—areas where the nearest drugstore is more than ten miles away—complicating efforts to distribute naloxone through traditional retail channels. Workplace stocking could help fill that gap in areas where employment is concentrated but medical infrastructure is sparse.

What Comes Next

The WORK to Save Lives Act has been referred to committee in both chambers. Its bipartisan sponsorship and endorsement from a major business safety organization may improve its prospects, though the timeline for floor votes remains unclear.

If enacted, OSHA would likely convene stakeholders—employers, labor unions, public health officials, and harm reduction groups—to draft guidance. The agency has existing authority to issue workplace safety standards, but naloxone deployment would represent a new category: addressing a public health crisis that enters the workplace rather than one created by workplace conditions.

Similar expansions of OSHA's scope have drawn legal challenges in the past, though courts have generally upheld the agency's authority to issue advisory guidance as distinct from enforceable regulations. The WORK Act's reliance on guidance rather than mandates may reduce opposition, though it also limits the bill's immediate impact.

For Heinrich and other lawmakers backing the measure, the goal is less about enforcement than about normalization—making naloxone as routine in break rooms and first aid kits as defibrillators and fire extinguishers. Whether that vision translates into fewer overdose deaths will depend not just on the legislation's passage but on the willingness of employers to act on the guidance it produces.