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Drug Screening and Workers' Compensation: Understanding the Link
Most worksite injury prevention programs focus solely on conditions of the worksite – making sure workers properly use PPE, correct equipment usage and more. But worksite accidents don't happen in a vacuum; often, what workers do outside of work can have a major impact on your worksite's overall safety.
One of the worker behaviors that has the most direct impact on your worksite's safety — and the number and cost of workers' compensation claims and work stoppages — is substance abuse. Creating an effective, compliant, fair drug screening process can help you keep your workers safe while reducing your workers' compensation claims rates and costs.
The Connection Between Substance Abuse and Worksite Accidents
Since 2011, workplace unintentional overdose deaths have increased 619%, according to the National Safety Council. And a 2023 survey by the American Addiction Centers found that 22.5% of respondents admitted to using drugs or alcohol during work hours.
Among construction workers, the American Addiction Centers reports that rates of drug and alcohol use disorders are higher than in the general population. An estimated 12% of construction workers have an alcohol use disorder, compared with 7.5% nationally. When it comes to substance use disorders, 14.3% of construction workers received this diagnosis within the last year — 15% of construction workers vs. 8.6% of the rest of the population.
Construction workers also have a high level of diagnosed opioid use disorder, with 1.3% of construction workers suffering, almost twice the national average. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reports that construction workers are seven times more likely to die of an opioid overdose than workers in other industries, and they represent about 25% of all fatal opioid overdoses in workers.
Whether workers are actively using substances while on the job or they're using off the clock, not taking measures to identify workers who may be struggling and get them help can cost your business a lot of money.