New York Will Soon Require Naloxone in the Workplace First-Aid Kit

If you work for a private employer in New York that already has to keep first-aid supplies on hand, then sometime next year there will be one more item in the kit: naloxone.

Under a state law signed last winter, employers covered by federal workplace first-aid rules must make an opioid antagonist — naloxone, the medicine widely sold as Narcan, or another approved reversal medication — available for first aid or emergency treatment at the workplace. The requirement takes effect Dec. 13, 2026. And on Sept. 24, 2026, the New York State Department of Labor proposed the regulations that will spell out what compliance actually looks like. The public comment period is open now.

It is a quiet change, but a meaningful one: it puts a proven, easy-to-use overdose antidote into the buildings where adults spend most of their waking hours.

What the law says

The original bill, S.5922-A, was enacted in December 2025 and added Labor Law § 27-f. It applies to every employer that is federally required, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and its standards, to have first-aid supplies readily available for injured employees — the same requirement that puts bandages, gauze and burn cream in a workplace kit.

A follow-up chapter amendment, A09453, was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Feb. 13, 2026 as Chapter 17 of the 2026 laws. It clarified three things:

Who counts as an employer. Any person, corporation, limited liability company or association that employs people in any occupation, industry, trade or business. The state, its political subdivisions, public authorities and other government agencies are excluded.
What counts as an opioid antagonist. The term carries the same meaning as in New York's Public Health Law § 3309: a medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that neutralizes the effects of opioids — naloxone and other medications the state approves for that purpose.
That giving it is protected. Administering an opioid antagonist is treated as first aid or emergency treatment under Public Health Law § 3000-a, New York's Good Samaritan protection.

The amendment also pushed the effective date out by roughly six months, to one year after the original law passed — hence Dec. 13, 2026 — to give the state time to write rules first.

What the proposed rules would require

The Sept. 24 proposal from the Department of Labor is deliberately flexible, and it answers some questions while leaving others open for comment:

How many doses? There is no fixed minimum and no numerical safe harbor. Each employer would decide on a "sufficient number" to let a responder act quickly, weighing the size and layout of the site, how many people work at or pass through it, whether higher-risk groups are present, the nature of the work, and any history of on-site overdoses.
Where to keep it. Somewhere easily accessible — an administrator "ordinarily should not need to travel through several doorways, hallways, or stairways." Employers would consider where the automated external defibrillator (AED) and other first-aid supplies live, the visibility and centrality of the spot, and the risk of tampering or theft. Locked or restricted storage is discouraged and allowed only for a genuine security need, with every step taken to keep access fast. Medication stays sealed in the manufacturer's packaging with its instructions.
Shared buildings. Where several employers share a workplace, they may comply jointly and document the arrangement for the labor commissioner.
Upkeep. Regular inspection, with replacement of anything expired, tampered with, missing or used, and proper disposal of used or expired doses.
Training. Employers would recruit and train employee volunteers, consistent with state Health Department guidance: recognizing an overdose, giving the medication, what to do before and after, when to call 911, and the Good Samaritan protections. No employee can be required to volunteer or to administer the medication.

What the proposal does not set — and what commenters may push on — is a hard minimum, a small-business or low-risk exemption, an answer for what happens if nobody volunteers, or a recordkeeping system.

Why the workplace

Overdose does not stay at home. Citing federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data, KFF Health News reported that at least 217 workers died of an unintentional drug or alcohol overdose while at work in 2016 — up 32 percent from the year before — and that workplace overdose deaths had been climbing by 25 percent or more a year since 2010. Those figures count only the fatal events.

Construction, manufacturing, warehousing and food service carry some of the highest rates of pain-medication and opioid misuse, and many people who develop a problem start with a prescription after a job-site injury. Naloxone works within minutes, does not require a medical degree, and is designed to be given by a bystander. Many of the same workplaces already keep an AED for a far less likely emergency.

There is also the message it sends. Workers often hide substance use because they fear losing a job; storing naloxone next to the bandages says an overdose is a medical emergency, not a firing offense.

A national trend, not just a New York one

On Sept. 24, 2026, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration published a fact sheet, "Opioid Overdose Rescue with Reversal Medications," under the administration's Great American Recovery Initiative. It is guidance, not a mandate — but it encourages employers to keep naloxone or nalmefene where workers can reach it quickly, train volunteers, learn the signs (slow or stopped breathing, blue lips, pinpoint pupils, unresponsiveness), call 911 immediately even if the person wakes up, and remember that the medication's effect is temporary and more doses may be needed.

California is moving in the same direction. AB 2150, chaptered as Chapter 384 of the 2026 statutes, requires employers that mandate CPR certification for their employees to also require an EMSA-approved online training module on using naloxone, paid for by the employer. The state is also on a path, through its workplace-safety standards board, to add naloxone to required first-aid materials, with revised standards to be considered by Dec. 1, 2028.

New York and California are the two largest private-sector workforces in the country. When they move, other states tend to watch.

What it means for you and your family

Find out what your workplace has. If there is a first-aid kit, ask human resources whether naloxone is in it and where it is kept. If you are a manager, ask now — inventorying kits and writing a simple one-page plan is far easier than scrambling in December.
If you are in recovery, this is not surveillance. The law is about the emergency, not the drug test. Administration is covered by New York's Good Samaritan protection, and no employee is required to volunteer or to give the medication.
Keep naloxone at home too. It is available at pharmacies and through many local health departments and community programs.
Know what an overdose looks like: slow or stopped breathing, snoring or gurgling sounds, blue or grey lips, pinpoint pupils, cold clammy skin, unresponsiveness. Call 911 first, give naloxone, do rescue breathing, roll the person onto their side, and stay until help arrives. Naloxone does nothing to someone who is not overdosing on opioids, so there is no downside to giving it.

What's next

The comment period on New York's proposed regulations is open, and final rules are expected before the Dec. 13, 2026 effective date. California's rulemaking continues. For families, the practical takeaway is simple: within a year, the buildings where people work are likely to be one more place where an overdose can be reversed.

Where to get help

SAMHSA National Helpline — 1-800-662-4357, free, confidential, 24/7, English and Spanish
FindTreatment.gov — treatment locator for every state
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988
New York State HOPELine — 1-877-846-7369 (1-877-8-HOPENY), text HOPENY (467369)
911 — in any suspected overdose, call first, then give naloxone