Reported Impacts and Workplace Needs of Transit Operators Related to Passenger Drug Misuse on Transit Vehicles [preprint]

Details

• Journal Article:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Personal Author:
  Srikanth, Pranav ; Monsey, Lily M. ; Seto, Edmund ; Zuidema, Christopher ; Rhew, Isaac C. ; Baker, Marissa G.
• Description:
  Objective: Transit operators have reported health effects and safety concerns from drug misuse occurring on public transit vehicles in the Pacific Northwest (USA). As transit operators are essential to providing safe and reliable transportation to their communities, it is important to investigate these impacts and methods to control these hazards. Methods: Qualitative interviews of 19 transit operators (WA, OR) explored operators' experiences, risk perceptions, impacts, and needs related to passenger drug use. Results: Interviewees identified various impacts to health and well-being, including physical health effects, mental health outcomes, and emotional effects. Operators reported lacking support from their agencies, and highlighted engineering controls as a need that is currently unfulfilled. Conclusions: Evaluation and implementation of interventions to control this hazard may be effective in improving operator health and well-being, and in ensuring that transit systems can continue to serve communities. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Drug Misuse
  • Mental Health
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • Transportation; Bus drivers; Drug misuse; Mental health; Wellbeing; Occupational health; Opioids; Work experience; Employee exposure;
  • Author Keywords: Occupational health; transit operators; perceived risk; impacts; workplace supports
• Source:
  J Occup Environ Med 2026 May; :Epub ahead of print
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  San Francisco Region OSHA ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  36 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071602
• Contact Point Address:
  Pranav Srikanth, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Suite 100, Seattle WA 98105
• Email:
  spranav@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/259377/cdc_259377_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.27 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a82be815a954bf356d2b48f7c51b0f4c79cf90f9d7021f2913ac10f92785316aaac2ee3d2d04144ba4c0ec02fe1b43048745bcfc4c5f5d4e789bce66097ce7d2