Substance Use on the Job Is Costly and Dangerous

For the second week of June, which the National Safety Council (NSC) has designated National Safety Month, the NSC is concentrating on wellness, with specific focus on the costs of substance abuse in the workplace, reports safety.BLR.com . The highest rates of on-the-job substance use disorders are concentrated in the construction and entertainment, recreation, and food service industries. Tenet Diagnostics estimates that up to 20 percent of work-related fatality victims test positive for drugs or alcohol, and 40 percent of all industrial workplace deaths are caused by substance abusers. The opioid crisis and the legalization of marijuana for medical and/or recreational purposes in many U.S. states also contribute to this trend, and employers are advised to devise clear policies dealing with the hazards of substance use on the job and articulate their expectations about such use. Costs of on-the-job substance abuse include absenteeism, healthcare expenses, missed productivity, higher turnover, and greater risk for accidents and injuries on the job. The NSC has worked with the Shatterproof nonprofit and the University of Chicago's NORC research institution on an interactive calculator that estimates the costs of substance use for a given employer based on location, size, and industry. The NSC recommends employers invest in employee wellness and provide treatment options for substance use disorders, and it estimates that each employee who recovers from a substance use disorder saves their employer more than $3,200 annually.