THE WORKPLACE

1. ​Premature death/fatal accidents​
   
2. ​Injuries/accident rates
   
3. ​Absenteeism/extra sick leave
   
4. ​Loss of production

• ​​Tardiness/sleeping on the job
  
• After-effects of substance use (hangover, withdrawal) affecting job performance
  
• Poor decision making
  
• Loss of efficiency
  
• Theft
  
• Lower morale of co-workers
  
• Increased likelihood of having trouble with co-workers/supervisors or tasks
  
• Preoccupation with obtaining and using substances while at work, interfering with attention and concentration
  
• Illegal activities at work including selling illicit drugs to other employees
  
• Higher turnover
  
• Training of new employees
  
• Disciplinary procedures

​Two specific kinds of drinking behavior significantly contribute to the level of work-performance problems:  drinking right before or during working hours (including drinking at lunch and at company functions), and heavy drinking the night before that causes hangovers during work the next day.

And it isn’t just alcoholics who can generate problems in the workplace.  Research has shown that the majority of alcohol-related work-performance problems are associated with nondependent drinkers who may occasionally drink too much -- not exclusively by alcohol-dependent employees. ​

• ​Food service
  
• Construction
  
• Mining and Drilling
  
• Excavation
  
• Installation, maintenance and repair

• ​​Workers with alcohol problems were 2.7 times more likely than workers without drinking problems to have injury-related absences.
  
• A hospital emergency department study showed that 35 percent of patients with an occupational injury were at-risk drinkers.
  
• Breathalyzer tests detected alcohol in 16% of emergency room patients injured at work.
  
• Analyses of workplace fatalities showed that at least 11% of the victims had been drinking.
  
• Large federal surveys show that 24% of workers report drinking during the workday at least once in the past year.
  
• One-fifth of workers and managers across a wide range of industries and company sizes report that a coworker’s on- or off-the-job drinking jeopardized their own productivity and safety.

There is always a level of risk when using any drug including prescription or over-the-counter medications.

Drug reactions vary from person to person. If you are taking a drug for the first time, you won’t know how it will affect you. It’s important to follow your doctor’s advice when taking prescription drugs and discuss any side-effects and how this might impact your work.

The effects of prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines (e.g. Xanax®) can have an impact on your work and you should discuss these with your doctor. Long term use in particular may become problematic.​

• 70% of the estimated 14.8 million Americans who use illegal drugs are employed.

• Marijuana is the most commonly used and abused illegal drug by employees, followed by cocaine, with prescription drug use steadily increasing.

• ​Workers who report having three or more jobs in the previous five years are about twice as likely to be current or past year users of illegal drugs as those who have had two or fewer jobs.

This information was taken from the National Counsel on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence

https://www.ncadd.org/about-addiction/addiction-update/drugs-and-alcohol-in-the-workplace