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How
does substance abuse impact the workplace?
"I know all
of my employees personally. Substance abuse isn't a problem in our
workplace." "It would be obvious if one of our employees was using
drugs or alcohol at work." Fortunately, comments like these are
no longer as common as they once were as a result of the significant
strides that have been made in educating employers about substance
abuse and how it can affect the workplace. There is still, however,
a great deal of denial as well as numerous misconceptions among
many employers about who is using illicit drugs and alcohol, and
how this can directly impact their bottom line. The following statistics
and anecdotes are intended to further educate and inform employers
about the prevalence of substance abuse in the workplace, the impact
that it has on the workplace and employees, and the benefits that
employers have experienced as the result of implementing prevention
programs.
Prevalence
- More than
six percent of the population over 12 years of age (13.9 million
people) has used drugs within the past thirty days. Rates of use
remain highest among persons aged 16 to 25-the age group entering
the work force most rapidly.
- Seventy-three
percent of all current drug users aged 18 and older (8.3 million
adults) were employed in 1997. This includes 6.7 million full-time
workers and 1.6 million part-time workers.
- More than
14 percent of Americans employed full- and part-time report heavy
drinking, which is defined as five or more drinks on five or more
days in the past 30 days. The heaviest drinking occurred among
persons between the ages of 18 and 25 years. Of the 11.2 million
heavy drinkers in 1997, 30 percent (3.3 million) also were current
illicit drug users.
- Construction
workers (15.6%), sales personnel (11.4%), food preparation, wait
staff, and bartenders (11.2%), handlers, helpers, and laborers
(10.6%,) and machine operators and inspectors (10.5%) reported
the highest rates of current illicit drug use. Protective service
workers reported the lowest rate of current drug use (3.2%).
- The occupational
categories with above-average rates of heavy alcohol use, in addition
to construction, were handlers, helpers, and laborers (15.7%),
machine operators and inspectors (13.5%), transportation and material
movers (13.1%), precision production and repair workers (13.1%),
and employees in food preparation, including wait staff and bartenders
(12.2%).
- According
to a national survey conducted by the Hazelden Foundation, more
than sixty percent of adults know people who have gone to work
under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Costs and
Workplace Impact
The economic and human costs of drug and alcohol use are astounding.
In fact, the National Institutes of Health recently reported that
alcohol and drug abuse cost the economy $246 billion in 1992, the
most recent year for which economic data are available. In addition,
numerous studies, reports and surveys suggest that substance abuse
is having a profoundly negative affect on the workplace in terms
of decreased productivity and increased accidents, absenteeism,
turnover, and medical costs. Following are notable statistics that
highlight the impact of substance abuse on the workplace:
- In 1990,
problems resulting from the use of alcohol and other drugs cost
American businesses an estimated $81.6 billion in lost productivity
due to premature death (37 billion) and illness (44 billion);
86% of these combined costs were attributed to drinking.
- Full-time
workers age 18-49 who reported current illicit drug use were more
likely than those reporting no current illicit drug use to state
that they had worked for three or more employers in the past year
(32.1% versus 17.9%), taken an unexcused absence from work in
the past month (12.1% versus 6.1%), voluntarily left an employer
in the past year (25.8 % versus 13.6%), and been fired by an employer
in the past year (4.6% versus 1.4%). Similar results were reported
for employees who were heavy alcohol users.
- According
to results of a NIDA-sponsored survey, drug-using employees are
2.2 times more likely to request early dismissal or time off,
2.5 times more likely to have absences of eight days or more,
three times more likely to be late for work, 3.6 times more likely
to be involved in a workplace accident, and five times more likely
to file a workers' compensation claim.
- Results from
a U.S. Postal Service study indicate that employees who tested
positive on their pre-employment drug test were 77 percent more
likely to be discharged within the first three years of employment,
and were absent from work 66 percent more often than those who
tested negative.
- A survey
of callers to the national cocaine helpline revealed that 75 percent
reported using drugs on the job, 64 percent admitted that drugs
adversely affected their job performance, 44 percent sold drugs
to other employees, and 18 percent had stolen from co-workers
to support their drug habit.
- Alcoholism
causes 500 million lost workdays each year.
Employee Assistance
is provided throughout Volusia and Flagler Counties. Call the Rhonda
Harvey, Program Director at (386) 947-1482.
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