WORKPLACE DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE – EVERY DAY REALITY – EVERY EMPLOYEERS CONCERN

As an employer you understand the importance of providing a working environment that protects the safety, health and wellbeing of your employees.  Professionally developed  workplace substance abuse policies play a pivotal role in obtaining the highest possible level of production, improved attendance and lower accident rates resulting in fewer workers’ compensation claims.  Factors that can have a significant effect on bottom line profits.

Throughout the history of employer concerns surrounding employee drug and alcohol use and abuse, several facts have been established:

Workplace drug and alcohol dealers are a reality.  Don’t wait until this problem is exposed to implement a substance abuse policy.

Employee absenteeism is significantly higher for drug and alcohol users compared to other employees.

Drug and alcohol dependence is linked to an increase in employee medical expenses and workers’ compensation claims.

Alcohol abuse is responsible for a quarter of accidents involving intoxicated employees and their victims.

A study focusing on findings from the 2002 through 2004 National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reported that --

• 9.4 million (8.2%) of full-time workers were illicit drug users
• 57.5% of illicit drug users, aged 18 to 64, were employed full-time
• Nearly one out of five (19%) workers aged 18 to 25 used illicit drugs during the past month. This was a higher percentage than among the 26 to 34 (10.3%), 35 to 49 (7%), and 50 to 64 (2.6%) age groups.

Drug testing

• A total of 32 million (29.6%) of full-time workers in the United States reported random drug testing in their current employment setting during the study period.
• For each age group, past month illicit drug users were less likely than nonusers to report working for employers who conducted prehire drug or alcohol tests; ages 18 to 25 (29.4 vs. 41.3%); 26 to 34 (32.0 vs. 45.8%), 35 to 49 (34.2 vs. 45.5%), and 50 to 64 (31.3 vs. 41%).

Occupations

• Illicit drug use among full-time employees were most prevalent in food preparation and serving-related occupations (17.4%), followed by construction and extraction occupations (15.1%).
• Among full-time workers, those in protective services occupations were least likely to be illicit drug users (3.4%).

Source: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs. DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 07-4273, Analytic Series A-29, Rockville, MD, 2007.