{"id":79245,"date":"2025-04-08T10:04:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T16:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=79245"},"modified":"2025-04-08T10:04:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T16:04:49","slug":"they-dont-want-anybody-to-know-addiction-silence-and-stigma-in-the-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2025\/04\/08\/they-dont-want-anybody-to-know-addiction-silence-and-stigma-in-the-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"‘They don\u2019t want anybody to know\u2019: Addiction, silence, and stigma in the trade"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fighting drugs: <\/strong>Payton Baxter is\u00a0 first-year pipe trades student at SAIT. She says she thinks some people hide their addictions in the construction industry. (Photo by Aldin Avdic\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Substance abuse holds many hostages in the trades. SAIT students aren\u2019t immune.<\/p>\n

Now, some want to see changes in the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have had to use naloxone three or four times now, because someone overdosed\u00a0on an opioid,\u201d said Hadyn Bernard.<\/p>\n

Bernard is a SAIT student studying for his Red Seal in the pipe trades. He said he has witnessed all sorts of drugs and alcohol being consumed on worksites. He\u2019s heard of or watched people using speed, weed, cocaine, crack and fentanyl.<\/p>\n

“I can write a bible on how many people I’ve seen under the influence,” said Bernard. “I can count on multiple dozens of hands.”<\/p>\n

Substance use is a major safety issue in the construction industry. With the heavy machinery found on worksites, being under the influence can lead to serious injury \u2014 for both the operator and those around them.<\/p>\n

Since 2016, men have accounted for 72 per cent of opioid deaths, according to the Government of Canada<\/a>. Thirty to 50 per cent of deaths occurred among those employed in the trades.<\/p>\n

Why? The federal government gives three reasons.<\/p>\n