Testing for Illegal Use of Drugs Module 2 Substance Abuse Problems in the Workplace

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Testing for Illegal Use of Drugs Module
2Substance Abuse Problems in the Workplace
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Testing for Illegal Use of Drugs Awareness of
Substance Abuse Problems in the Workplace
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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• Objectives
• After completing this module, supervisors should
  be able to
• Explain the workplace impact of substance abuse
  in America today.
• Recognize workplace problems that may be related
  to substance use.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• The vast majority of drug users, more than
  three-quarters, are employed.
• When they arrive at work, they dont leave their
  problems outside the door.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• The following statistics are from
• The U.S. Department of Labor,
• Working Partners for Alcohol and Drug Free
  Workplace

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• An estimated 14.8 million Americans are current
  illicit drug users.
• The rate of current illicit drug use is higher
  among men (8.7 percent) than women (4.9 percent).

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Although the rate of current illicit drug use is
  higher among unemployed individuals, the vast
  majority of current illicit drug users in the US
  are employed.
• Of 12.3 million adult current illicit drug users,
  9.4 million (77 percent) work.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• An estimated 6.5 percent of full-time and 8.6
  percent of part-time workers are current illicit
  drug users.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• More than 60 percent of adults know someone who
  has reported for work under the influence of
  alcohol or other drugs.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• Everyone involved in a workplace, both employers
  and employees, suffers when there is workplace
  alcohol and drug abuse.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• Some costs are obvious, such as increased
  absences, accidents and errors.
• Others, such as low morale and high illness
  rates, are less so, but the effects are equally
  harmful.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Alcohol and drug abuse has been estimated to cost
  American workplaces roughly 81 billion dollars in
  lost productivity in just one year37 billion due
  to premature death and 44 billion due to illness.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Individuals who are current illicit drug users
  are more likely (12.9 percent) than those who are
  not (5 percent) to have skipped one or more work
  days in the past month.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Of callers to the National Cocaine Helpline
• 75 percent admit to having used drugs on the job.
• 64 percent report that drugs have adversely
  affected their job performance.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Of callers to the National Cocaine Helpline
• 44 percent say they have sold drugs to fellow
  employees
• 18 percent say they have stolen from coworkers to
  support their drug habit.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• At DHMH we have an advantage in curbing the
  impact of drug abuse since we are a large
  employer and have programs in place to combat the
  problem.
• Individuals who cant adhere to a drug-free
  workplace policy seek employment at workplaces
  that are small and that dont have a drug-free
  workplace program.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Among the population of full-time employed
  current illicit drug users
• 44 percent work for small establishments
• 43 percent work for medium establishments
• 13 percent work for large establishments

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Despite fairly widespread belief, the health care
  industry is not immune to workplace substance
  abuse.
• Health care industry workers who abuse alcohol
  and other drugs threaten the safety and well
  being of not only themselves, but their
  colleagues and a countless number of patients.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  personnel within the health care industry are as
  follows

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  personnel within the health care industry are as
  follows

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  personnel within the health care industry are as
  follows

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  personnel within the health care industry are as
  follows

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  personnel within the health care industry are as
  follows

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• At DHMH we also have general services types of
  employees. These employees have access to
  financial records, maintain confidential
  information and are privy to security-sensitive
  information.

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  general services personnel are as follows

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Awareness of Substance Abuse Problems in the
Workplace

• General Workplace Impact
• Rates of substance abuse among different types of
  general services personnel are as follows