Workplace: Role, Prevention, and Programs

Prevention makes good business sense given the extent and cost of the workplace alcohol and drug problems. Since the advent of the 1988 DFWA, [Page 857]workplaces have seen significant growth in wellness programs and both prevention and health screening technologies that can supplement or enhance strategies for dealing with substance abuse. Employers may be able to find creative ways to incorporate prevention through wellness programs, health screenings, and their health provider network. One of the most effective workplace policies is drug-testing job applicants and rejecting those who test positive for illicit drugs. Research suggests such efforts are cost effective, enhance worker productivity, and can avoid critical and costly incidents in the long term. However, this literature is characterized by few experimental studies, with most investigations being either correlational surveys or employer case studies; which parallels the related body of applied workplace research on the effectiveness of other kinds of health and wellness programs. Nonetheless, the small percentage of dependent workers who use alcohol or drugs while at work have diminished work productivity and can pose a threat to workplace safety.

Employers have an important role in preventing, identifying, and supporting employee substance abuse problems. A rough history of employer orientation to their worker's alcohol use provides a comparative backdrop to the topics in this entry. Until the modern era, most employers held a fairly limited and straightforward role. For example, in the past many employers in agriculture and industry rewarded a hard day of manual work with beer and food, and sometimes with just beer. Only occasionally were employers faced with having to address alcohol-related problems of workers. Providing employees with gifts of liquor remains a tradition in many business settings. Today, employers are not only faced with employee problems that go beyond alcohol, including severe dependence, illicit drug use, and misuse of prescription drugs, but they also have a variety of policies to implement (e.g., drug testing), responses to consider (e.g., employee assistance), and legal mandates to follow (e.g., accommodation for disability).