From left to right: Michael Botticelli, executive director, Boston Medical Center’s Grayken Center for Addiction; Lisa Kelly-Croswell, senior vice president and chief human resources officer, Boston Medical Center; Shaun Carvalho, safety director, Shawmut
Safety director Shaun Carvalho joined Boston Medical Center’s executive director of Grayken Center for Addiction, Michael Botticelli, and senior vice president and chief human resources officer, Lisa Kelly-Croswell, for a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce discussion on opioids and the workplace, and how employers can address this challenge.
In evaluating its own employees’ needs, Boston Medical Center (BMC) found that many employees have been affected either personally or within their family by issues related to substance use disorders. In response, BMC developed a set of resources, including support groups to help employees encourage and help loved ones enter recovery, as well as mailing a Mental Health and Addiction Resource Guide to all employees at their homes.
“Given the extent of this crisis, it is clear that employers need to take a thoughtful look at how substance use disorders are impacting their employees and their overall work environment,” said Botticelli.
Due to the physical demands of the job, construction is the second-most susceptible profession to opioid use disorder, so under Carvalho’s leadership, Shawmut has mobilized a cross-functional team to enlist the proper resources to safeguard employees and partners, and establish support systems for anyone affected by a substance use disorder.
The team partners with experts such as Botticelli and BMC to ensure it’s disseminating critical and actionable information across Shawmut’s 1,400-person workforce and 20,000-person subcontractor network nationwide. BMC invited Carvalho to join the discussion at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce to demonstrate how these valuable resources can be effective when put into action.