Combating Substance Abuse in the Workplace: A Business Priority

According to a recent study, substance abuse is a major problem amongst today’s workforce. A nationwide survey sponsored by the Federal government found that there is a high number of Americans holding full time jobs while using illegal drugs or binge drinking. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that there are approximately 16.4 million illicit drug users and approximately 15 million heavy alcohol users in the United States; most of whom hold full-time jobs.¹

Illicit drug use is defined as the use of marijuana, cocaine, heroine, hallucinogens, inhalants; or the use of prescription psychotherapeutics for recreational purposes.¹ Heavy alcohol use, or binge drinking as it is also called, is defined as consuming five or more alcoholic beverages on one occasion, at least five days in a month period.¹ Substance abuse causes a myriad of harmful health effects including cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal problems; kidney and liver damage; neurological damage; mental health issues such as depression; cancer; pregnancy-related complications such as fetal alcohol syndrome; and mortality.² Drug abuse can also lead to HIV, hepatitis, and other serious infectious diseases.²

Substance abuse not only has harmful health effects, but also has negative effects on workplace safety and productivity. On average, an employee with a substance abuse problem is late to work three times more often than an employee who does not abuse drugs or alcohol. In addition, employees who abuse substances (compared to those who do not) use sick leave three times more often, are five times more likely to file worker’s compensation claims, and are almost four times more likely to have an accident while at work.³

The Costs of Substance Abuse

Employees with substance abuse problems are less healthy, miss work more often, are more apt to hurt themselves on the job, and experience higher job turnover rates.³ All of these things reduce workplace productivity and cost employers money. Substance abuse costs the United States more than $346 billion a year; more than the cost of cancer and diabetes combined.⁴ This figure includes costs associated with substance abuse treatment and prevention, reduced job productivity including lost earnings, and crime.⁵ In addition, employed drug abusers cost their employers approximately twice as much in medical and workers compensation than drug-free workers.⁵

What Employers Can Do

It is not always easy to tell if an employee is abusing drugs or alcohol. Since substance abuse can be an illusive workplace problem, it is necessary to institute measures that promote prevention and provide means of accessing help that are confidential and respect the employee’s privacy. The privacy of the employee must be respected, as stigma against substance abuse plays a large role in discouraging employees from seeking treatment.

• Promote the use of workplace health and wellness programs to prevent substance abuse.
• Promote the use of employee assistance programs. Most large employers offer employees access to employee assistance programs that provide information, resources, referrals, and counseling on issues involving substance use, mental health, stress, work and family problems, and a range of related concerns.
• Distribute relevant workplace policies on substance abuse via email and/or the office newsletter and post policies in common areas such as the cafeteria.
• Create a workplace culture that discourages substance abuse; focus work events on things other than alcohol.
• Provide employees with free educational materials such as substance abuse risk assessments and fact sheets on alcoholism and drug addiction.
• Institute employee drug testing, which both detects and deters drug use.
• Require employee health plans to include, as part of primary care, screening and brief interventions for alcohol and other substance problems.⁶
• Ensure that employee health plans cover substance abuse treatment, such as inpatient substance abuse detoxification, partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient.

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¹ United States Department of Health and Human Services. Press Release: Nationwide Survey Shows Most Illicit Drug Users and Heavy Alcohol Users Are in the Workplace and May Pose Special Problems. Available at: http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/070713survey0610.aspx. Accessed on July 16, 2007.

² National Institute on Drug Abuse. Medical Consquences of Drug Abuse. Available at: http://www.nida.nih.gov/consequences/index.html. Accessed July 16, 2007.

³ United States Department of Labor. General Workplace Impact. Available at: http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/drugs/workingpartners/stats/wi.asp. Accessed on: July 16, 2007.

⁴ National Institute on Drug Abuse. Magnitude. Available at: http://www.nida.nih.gov/about/welcome/aboutdrugabuse/magnitude/. Accessed July 16, 2007.

⁵ National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: Nationwide Trends. Available at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/Infofacts/nationtrends.html. Accessed July 17, 2007.

⁶ National Business Group on Health. Solutions to Workplace Substance Abuse: Prevention and Treatment Strategies; 2003. Available at: http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/pdfs/substance_brief.pdf. Accessed August 9, 2007.