Hasta La Ideas

A new study of opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts has found that the construction industry is the worst affected, while architecture and engineering are the only occupations to have a higher death rate among women than men.

Published this month by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the report follows a major opioid epidemic in the state, which saw fatalities from overdosing on the highly addictive narcotics more than double between 2011 and 2015.

In order to find a cause and solution for the issue, the Opioid-related Overdose Deaths in Massachusetts by Industry and Occupation survey used death certificates from this period to source data about industry and occupation, gender, race and age among those affected.

A total of 5,580 Massachusetts residents died from opioid-related overdoses during this time, but some were excluded from the study because they were out of state or out of work at the time of death, or the certificates lacked sufficient information.

Out of those surveyed, the highest amount of deaths were found among construction and extraction workers, who made up more than 24 per cent of the total.

Report calls for improved working conditions for construction workers

Analysis by the authors attributes this to a high amount of injuries occurred on site, quoting a statistic that four out of every 100 construction workers are hurt on the job.

The report therefore calls for interventions to “address workplace hazards”.

“Pain is a common feature among injured workers and previous research indicates that opioids are frequently prescribed for pain management following work-related injuries, which has the potential to lead to opioid use disorders,” said the study, which was first reported by the Architect’s Newspaper.

As the results were so high within the construction industry, the survey segmented this workforce into different tasks.

The labourers group had the highest number of deaths, followed by carpenters; painters, construction and maintenance workers; pipe layers, plumbers and pipe-fitters; steamfitters; and roofers.

Brick, block and stone masons; structural iron and steel workers, and insulation workers all also had high fatalities.

Architecture and engineering only occupations to have higher female opioid deaths

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health divided those surveyed into a total of 25 industry sectors, including arts, design and entertainment, which came 12th, and architecture and engineering, which ranked 15th.

Comparing by gender, the survey found that more males died from opioid overdoses than females. But the report highlights that the architecture and engineering field is the only one to have higher fatalities in women than men.

“The rates of opioid-related overdose death was higher among males than females for all occupation groups except architecture and engineering occupations, but these differences were not always statistically significant,” it said.

While the survey associates the high death rate in the construction industry to occupational hazards, it draws more general observations for other industries. Among the key contributing factors listed are poor paid sick leave, which would prevent employees from taking time off to recover from injury and illness, and low job security.

Opioid overdose a “major public health crisis” in US

It also suggests that better education be provided about opioids, which are causing what the US National Institute on Drug Abuse describes as a “major public health crisis”.

Recent results have found that over 115 people die each day in the US after overdosing on opioids, with many incidents involving prescription painkillers.

The medication is also extremely addictive, causing many to turn to heroine as a substitute. US president Donald Trump is planning to address the problem by cutting back on the amount of opioid prescriptions.

Photograph by Flickr user J J, and has been cropped by Dezeen.

The post Construction workers suffer highest death rate from opioid overdoses in Massachusetts appeared first on Dezeen.

In this week’s comments update, readers discuss whether a proposal for a memorial to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire is appropriate.

Something to remember: architecture studio JAA divided readers with a concept for a memorial to the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire that would encase the burnt-out shell of building in a sarcophagus of black concrete.

“An urban-scaled tombstone memorialises only by looking backwards. The challenge faced by the designers would be to find a less morbid, more positive way in which to memorialise this tragedy,” offered a dissappointed HeywoodFloyd.

An equally unimpressed Studio Ulanowski added: “Why does this eternalise the morbid moment of death, rather than celebrate the lives and diversity of the people who lost their lives?”

Others though, including Little Jezzer, were full of praise: “Respect to the studio for putting their neck out there and daring to suggest something! No one else seems to be proposing anything a year later. For me, this is a very beautiful idea.”

“This would be a beautiful idea. Shame it probably won’t happen,” agreed an unhopeful ChristinanolanXD.

One reader was particularly touched by the proposal:



What do you think of JAA’s plans? Join the discussion ›

Unbalanced: BIG released plans to build the Miami Produce Center, combining housing, offices, a school and urban farming, and readers were not impressed.

“If we got rid of the gimmicky purple lights, this would be perfect,” said a swayable Steve Hassler.

Hexagons added sarcastically: “Bonus points to BIG for the neon-lighted car park nightclub with no visible fire exits…though BIG should have added a ski slope somewhere.”

Other readers, including Jea, were less subtle in their criticism: “One of these days, their designs will stop looking like student projects. Today is not that day, I don’t think.”

Testudo agreed: “Exactly my feeling. I saw lots of student projects exactly like this one. I was expecting something more interesting than something I can see coming from a third year architect student.”

For this commenter, the plans reminded them of something else:



Perfect planning or student-like project? Join the discussion ›

Time to reflect: readers aren’t convinced about the practicality of a mirrored holiday home designed by Robin Falck, which allows visitors to have a zero-emissions holidays.

“A very complicated and expensive camping tent. At least with the tent, you can dismantle it and move to another place,” wrote a disgruntled Apsco radiales.

E Smit was also unconvinced: “No emissions, so basically a log cabin right? As long as you don’t fart or grill your food on a barbecue. Vegans should definitely be banned from this establishment.”

“It’s likely not a sustainable product, and I have to wonder how many birds will kill themselves as they fly into this roof,” added Instablographer in concern.

Audrey agreed: “Remember birds collide with mirrored surfaces. Billions die every year around the world.”

For one reader, there was a much more important question to be answered:



Is this holiday home just a glorified tent? Join the discussion ›

Strong roots: engineers at Lancaster University have discovered that nano platelets sourced from the fibres of carrots could significantly improve the strength of concrete, and readers are impressed.

“Fantastic idea. At first I started to laugh seeing myself putting carrots in concrete, but then, wow!” exclaimed Małgorzata Bogusław.

Thehuey was also approving: “Makes sense, carrots are good for you.”

Other readers, including Jay C. White Cloud were less convinced: “We already had superior concrete 2000 plus years ago. It worked better than what we have today and without the addition of “carrot juice” so I would suggest, if it wasn’t broken and we haven’t done better since then, why are we trying to fix it?”

“Does it improve the concrete’s vision as well?” asked Threefloatingorbs jokingly.

One commenter was concerned about the potential edibility of the concrete:



What do you think about adding carrots to concrete? Join the discussion ›

The post “Hauntingly beautiful” appeared first on Dezeen.

Mark Wahlberg breaks down his most iconic and favorite characters, including his roles in ‘The Basketball Diaries,’ ‘Fear,’ ‘Boogie Nights,’ ‘Three Kings,’ ‘The Perfect Storm,’ ‘Planet of the Apes,’ ‘I Heart Huckabees,’ ‘The Departed,’ ‘The Fighter,’ ‘Ted,’ ‘The Other Guys,’ and his newest movie, ‘Mile 22.’..(Read…)

Ouch..(Read…)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the film Bullit. Ford has released an all-new 2019 Mustang Bullitt. The limited-edition Bullitt receives a performance upgrade over the latest Mustang GT giving the 5.0-liter V8 engine 480 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft of torque with a top speed of 163 miles per hour. The Bullitt is about $7,000 more than the Mustang GT and starts at $46,595…(Read…)