The Covid-19 pandemic has had a major effect on people for the past year causing many different challenges, be it working or not working, taking care of children and home schooling, being separated from friends and family, grief from the loss of loved ones, being isolated; the list goes on and on. The effect on people’s mental health has resulted in many resorting to increased substance use.

Workplace Impact

Accelerated consumption of alcohol or the illicit use of drugs only serves to make the situation worse, especially if the consumers are employees. According to Quest Diagnostics...

Over the past months, we have shared a number of reosurces regarding working parents and how the workplace can support their role within their family that will ultimately have a positive effect on their role on the job. Building confident and encouraging parenting and communication skills helps their kids to resist substance use.

Today we are sharing some resources from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). They havedeveloped resources for parenting entitled "Listen FIrst" and other parenting resources and tips.  This is especially important as families face the stress...

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Prescription Drug Toolkit and Fact
Sheets from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMHSA) provides guidance related to counseling, referrals, and follow-up
services that EAPs can offer employees whose substance misuse has affected
their workplace environment. The Toolkit also shares insight for employers
about preventing substance misuse and maintaining professional standards.

These materials describe the ways in which EAPs provide alternatives to
prescription drugs, workplace drug misuse and relapse prevention...

Substance Use Cost Calculator for Employers
Presented by Rachael Cooper and Dr. Eric Goplerud
3/17/21 @ 2pm-3pm EDT (UTC-4) 

Join the National Safety Council and NORC at the University of Chicago for a free webinar to learn about the new Substance Use Cost Calculator for Employers. Substance use is an issue in every U.S. workforce, with 1 in 12 workers dealing with an untreated substance use disorder. To address these issues, National Safety Council and NORC collaborated to update the Substance Use Cost Calculator for Employers, funded by Nationwide. This authoritative, easy-to-use...

From: Fulbright Australia 

A new study led by an Adelaide-based Fulbright Scholar has found that every dollar invested in programs that support and nurture employee mental health and wellness generated over three dollars of benefits through improving staff absenteeism and job performance.

Employee assistance programs (EAPs), voluntary workplace-based counselling programs, are widespread across industrialized countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Today, a team of researchers from the U.S. and Australia published the first known controlled economic evaluation of...

In recent months, we’ve featured several posts regarding parents in the workplace but I wanted to share some new parent resources from the U.S Department of Health and Human Service’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  

You may recall our discussion about working parents that have a child that becomes involved with using drugs or alcohol and the negative effect that has on the parents’ focus on work responsibilities.  It is a great practice for workplaces to have educational resources available for parents and all employees on substance use topics such as...

Cansford Laboratories | John Wicks |  January 2019

Workplace drug testing in Europe is a tricky business.

The European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right to personal privacy, but waives it for cases involving public safety, the prevention of disorder and crime, or the protection of health and morals - among others. Further directives state that employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety of workers (at the employer’s cost), and they must consult workers on questions related to health and safety at work. Employees, meanwhile, are obliged to inform their...

Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions Blog l Dr. Barry Sample l  19 January 2021

As [U.S.] states pass legislation to allow medical and recreational marijuana use, some are questioning whether workplace drug testing for marijuana and other illicit drugs is appropriate or even necessary. Some argue that the war on drugs is over and, therefore, drug testing provides no value. Yet, the reality is that there is a wealth of research conducted by government and independent organizations showing that workplace drug use puts employees at risk – and a drug testing program can help to foster...

Work Comp Wire | September 30, 2020

NCCI recently released a new research brief on Drug-Free Workplace Premium Credit Programs, noting that legalization of marijuana, both recreational and medical, has been an active issue over the last few years, and its implications for workers’ compensation are still being evaluated.

One question naturally arises—what are the implications of the legalization of marijuana for WC Drug-Free Workplace safety programs? This question won’t be fully answered until case law evolves further.

Click Here to Read the Entire Article

Get the...

HRD Human Resources Director  l  John Hilton  l  13 Oct 2020

HRD talks to Kellie-Ann McDade, partner at Baker McKenzie, on dealing with substance abuse at work.

Many employers in Australia are going to great lengths to control drug and alcohol issues in the workplace.

In Tasmania, West Tamar Council deemed drug testing a success last year, after becoming the first Council in the state to apply testing to councillors.

The management of West Tamar Council said they introduced drug and alcohol testing four years ago because of the potential health and safety...

SABC News l Jamaine Krige l 27 August 2020

Cannabis can be detected for up to four weeks by standard urine tests.

Recent changes in legislation which decriminalise cannabis use for adults in South Africa, have proven challenging for companies conducting drug-screening in the workplace.

Cannabis can be detected for up to four weeks by standard urine tests – the type most often used in a work environment. These tests, however, do not tell when the substance was used or whether the employee is impaired at the time of the test.

Read the entire article here

Waste Today Magazine | Adam Redling | January 12, 2021

Waste companies face a number of staffing challenges related to recruitment and retention, but one of the most important considerations for cultivating a healthy and productive workforce involves identifying and addressing potential substance abuse issues before they become a problem.

With this challenge in mind, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) hosted a webinar on Nov. 10 titled, “Controlling Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace: Employer Liabilities and Solutions Program.”

Panelists on the...

Drug testing is a means for employers to determine the facts of whether an employee or prospective new hire has recently used drugs. When developing their drug-free workplace program that includes drug testing, employers should practice careful planning, ensure consistently applied procedures, follow strict confidentiality, and make provisions for employees to appeal test results. The drug and alcohol testing provisions should be included in the company’s drug-free workplace policy that has been provided to all employees in advance.

While pre-employment, post-accident, and reasonable...

Here are some tips for parents to encourage their kids to understand the dangers and have a healthy attitude about alcohol and drugs.

Make Time to Be with Your Kids

In a time of hectic, overbooked schedules, it’s hard to find the time to give your kids the individual attention they need.  You will often find that by spending more one-on-one time with your kids, providing them with your undivided attention even for short windows of time, you and your child will reap the reward of that investment through better communication, cooperation and interest in family activities

From Quest Diagnostics: 

"As data from the NSDUH examines self-reported drug use by Americans, the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index™ for the same time period also showed workforce drug positivity hit a sixteen-year high in [the U.S.]. Marijuana positivity climbed by double digits across nearly all employee testing categories, while opiate and heroin positivity declined. Additionally, methamphetamine positivity in the general U.S. workforce testing increased nearly 12% over the past 5 years."

Get the Quest Diagnostics Report

There is no doubt that most workplaces employ parents. If a child or teen becomes involved in using alcohol or drugs, it can affect the parents’ work life due to loss of focus on work responsibilities, taking time off to deal with family matters, coordinating treatment or counseling, and so on.  Workplaces that have resources available for parents, such as substance use or misuse educational links and videos, Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), or have a list of community help lines or referral agencies, will support their employee parents through their family crisis.

The News Isn’t...

Drug Free America Foundation is pleased to share the resources from the recent webinar, Stigma and the Workplace held December 8, 2020. 

Webinar content:

Progress in the recovery process is crucial for achieving outcomes that will manifest the best possible integration into society for people in recovery. The Life in Recovery research showed that one of the main obstacles to integration was finding employment. This webinar will emphasize the effects of stigma that people in recovery face in the workplace and also highlight the significance of personal responsibility in creating and...

Supervisors should understand their specific responsibilities for initiating and carrying out the drug-free workplace policy and program. Here are some of the key functions:

Know the Organization's Policy and Program

It is extremely important for a supervisor to know and understand the company drug-free workplace policy and to clearly communicate and interpret its provisions to staff members. Alongside the policy are other program components which may include drug and alcohol testing, awareness education, supervisory training, resources for assistance, and more depending upon the...

Kratom is a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia with leaves that can have psychotropic properties. It is mostly consumed in pill or capsule form, while some people chew or smoke the leaves, brew the dried or powdered leaves as a tea, or eat the substance in food.

Some of the compounds of kratom are believed to interact with opioid receptors in the brain. While persons who use kratom in small amounts feel it energizes them, larger amounts can have a sedative effect.  The Mayo Clinic in the U.S. has labeled kratom unsafe and ineffective and can cause dependence especially in persons...

Tobacco-free workplaces protect all employees from the harms of secondhand smoke and can motivate persons who currently use tobacco to stop or decrease its use. Employers that take the steps to implement a tobacco-free policy can reduce the impacts to both employees and their business.

According to the World Health Organization, aside from the tragic impact of tobacco on global health, the total economic cost of smoking (from health expenditures and productivity losses together) are estimated to be around US$ 1.4 trillion per year, equivalent in magnitude to 1.8% of the world's annual...