According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), approximately 74 percent of the nation's drug abusers are employed and approximately 10 percent of the American workforce abuses drugs and/or alcohol on their jobs.

Drug abusers are costing American businesses a lot of money and eroding their bottom lines. The United States Department of Labor estimates that drug abusers cost an employer $9,600 per abuser per year. The ability of American businesses to compete on a local, national and even a global basis is endangered by drugs in the workplace.

The cost of drug abuse is experienced through a higher rate of accidents, absences, workers' compensation claims, tardiness, use of sickness benefits, and medical benefits usage. According to national sources, it is estimated that:

Sixty-five percent of all accidents on the job are linked to drug and/or alcohol abuse.

Three times as many sickness benefits are used by abusers.

Drug abusers are five times more likely to file a workers' compensation claim.

Drug abusers are sixteen times more likely to be absent than non-abusers.

Drug abusers are tardy for work three times more often than non-abusers.

Two and a half times more medical benefits are used by substance abusers due to more illness, off-the-job injuries and claims by family members.

Drugs account for as much as eighty percent of losses due to theft in the workplace.

The findings of a national study released in April of 1996, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) found:

The highest illicit drug usage among workers is in construction, food preparation, and service jobs;

Heavy drug use was found among writers, designers, artists, and athletes;

Lowest rates of drug use were found among police officers, administrative support jobs, teachers and child care workers; and

Unmarried workers were twice as likely to use illicit drugs or consume large amounts of alcohol.

Employers can ill afford to ignore these facts. According to the American Management Association, 81 percent of major U.S. firms are doing something about the problem. They are implementing proactive drug- and alcohol-free workplace programs that are having a positive impact on their bottom lines. One other significant finding in the study released by DHHS is that drug usage among full-time employees dropped from 16.7 percent in 1985 to 7.3 percent in 1993. These proactive workplace programs may be part of the reason for the decline of drug use noted in the study. Still a 7.3 percent of usage is nothing to brag about.

The anti-drug and alcohol programs vary from company to company but, have some common components. The approach is a comprehensive one utilizing a mixture of five major components:

1. A written policy that requires drug- and alcohol-free employees;

2. Employee education about the policy and awareness about the negative consequences of drug and alcohol abuse;

3. Supervisor training in drug and alcohol detection, intervention, and documentation;

4. Employee assistance programs; and

5.Drug testing.

The findings of a study recently released by Houston's Drug-Free Business Initiative indicate that employers believe that the benefits of drug and alcohol free programs are far greater than the costs. The 2-year study involved 180 employers from various industries and of varying sizes and had two major objectives:

1. To develop an understanding of factors that influence and inhibit the implementation of drug control strategies, especially in small businesses; and

2. To determine if either drug testing or employee assistance programs (EAPs) affect organization performance.

The findings of the study indicate that whether employers implement drug testing and/or EAPs is strongly related to perceptions of cost-effectiveness. Well over half of the respondents indicated that the benefits of drug testing outweighed the cost. The breakdown of various forms of testing indicated that 58.5 percent believed random testing, 65.5 percent believed reasonable cause, and 74.3 percent believed pre-employment testing was cost effective.

Just under half of the employers felt that the benefits of an EAP outweighed the cost. When asked to select one strategy over the other, 41 percent stated that it was more important to conduct drug testing than have an EAP. Only 8 percent thought that it was more important to have an EAP than to test. However, 52 percent thought drug testing and EAPs were of equal importance.

Interestingly, more than half of the responding employers in the study supported stronger governmental regulations about drug testing. This could be interpreted by some as an indication that employers desire the legal protection afforded them when operating drug testing programs under governmental regulations.

An attempt was made in the study to collect data on actual, performance indicators over a four year period. A "scientifically valid" methodology was applied in the analysis of the data. This is the first time this type of approach in studying drug-free workplace strategies has ever been attempted by any research study. The study revealed a number of problems inherent to employers with respect to gathering data pertaining to workplace productivity.

While the study was unable to provide conclusive evidence, its findings strongly suggest that testing impacts productivity in a positive manner. The data suggest that random testing, in combination with pre-employment testing, appears to reduce injuries and workers' compensation claims and expenditures. Pre-employment testing by itself, appears to have a strong positive effect on productivity.

The attitudes of employers captured in the HDFBI study reinforced what is commonly believed - that one of the best returns on investment that an employer can expect is when he or she invests in a comprehensive drug-free workplace program. Drug use is detected and deterred with proactive programs, especially those that consist of consistent testing. This results in fewer accidents, fewer injuries, less absenteeism and tardiness, and higher productivity - a definite improvement to the employer's bottom line.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Calvina L. Fay was the Executive Director of Houston's Drug-Free Business Initiative (HDFBI), a coalition of employers actively involved in combatting the substance abuse in the workplace. HDFBI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that serves as a clearing house of information and technical support to employers in the Greater Houston Area wishing to achieve drug and alcohol free work forces. It serves as a platform for the exchange of information among employers for the purpose of maximizing efforts in drug-free workplace programs. Ms. Fay has over 10 years experience in drug-free workplace efforts and founded one of the first for-profit companies in the nation to provide comprehensive services to employers to establish drug-free workplace programs, which she sold in 1989. She is known as an expert in her field and has lectured nationally and internationally on employer involvement in combatting substance abuse. She holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and is the author of numerous books and articles on the topic. Ms. Fay is also the former co-owner of a construction company. For additional information on how to utilize the resources of HDFBI, call 713/676-7275.