I doubt that the subject of drug and alcohol abuse is any dearer to
your heart than mine, and that’s part of the problem. We don’t like to think
about it. So why, if it the subject is not high on our list of favorites, talk
about it here? How about:
Worker Compensation: 38% to 50% of all
Workers' Compensation claims are related to substance abuse in the workplace;
substance abusers file three to five times as many claims.
Medical Costs: Substance abusers incur 300%
higher medical costs than non-abusers.
Absenteeism: Substance abusers are 2.5 times
more likely to be absent eight or more days a year.
Lost Productivity: Substance abusers are
one-third less productive.
Certainly a part of
our reluctance is the worry that once we pry open the lid, we won’t like what’s
there. Another is that you’re saying to your people that you don’t trust them to
do the right thing for themselves. And then there’s the money thing. A drug and
alcohol testing program is not cheap, it requires time, effort, attention to
detail, and follow-through; and when all is said and done it’s difficult to
equate the value of the program to your P&L statement’s bottom line…after
all, success is a matter of what isn’t there. For a program to be effective it
should include at the very least the following:
*Specimen
collection
*Drug testing
*Confirmation on positive
testing
*Employee Assistance
Program
Just this past week I received a news release headlined,
Local 164 Drug-Free Construction
Site Program Serves as a Model For Statewide Awareness Campaign;
First-of-its-kind
Mandatory Testing Enforces Worksite Safety, explaining that the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers 164 and the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the
Electrical Contractors Association entered into collaboration to educate other
trade organizations as well as local, state and federal officials regarding the
benefits associated with mandatory substance abuse testing for construction
workers.
The bulletin went on to express the thought
of Local 164’s business manager, Richard Dressel, that if the program had the
effect of keeping just one drug or alcohol abuser off a jobsite, it had achieved
its goal. I decided to contact Dressel to get the story.
“It took the better part of 6 years to
accomplish this,” Dressel explains, “as my contractor association was reluctant
to get involved, and it took almost as long for the New Jersey Construction
Users Roundtable (CRT) to accept our test in lieu of the on site testing that
they require all of my members to do when they have a construction project
going. The CRT came on board when it was proven that our testing procedures were
actually better than theirs. My contractors came on board when I funded the
testing for the first year.
Testing commenced this past January with all
4000 members receiving baseline tests over a 10 week period, after which random
sampling began.
“Our procedures call for every member of the
active work force (traveling members of all other locals included) to be tested
at least once annually, and 25% of that same active work force randomly sampled
during the course of the year, “Dressel says, adding that after testing, each
cleared person is provided a “clean card” photo ID containing the date of his or
her last successful test.
When members are tapped to take the random
test, they have 48 hours to get to a lab and provide a sample. Since testing is
not performed on company time, members of Local 164 then get $50.00 as
compensation for their participation.
The first offense
carries with it a 30 day suspension from work, and that member has to partake in
mandatory counseling through the mental health company attached to our welfare
fund. Once they have provided a “clean test” at their own expense and get a
release from counseling, they can return to work. The Second offense carries
with it a 60-day suspension, with the same parameters. In the case of a third
offense the suspension period is upped to 90 days, though as Dressel points out,
“All of the professionals we deal with tell me that by then the offenders have
either cleaned up, or found another career.”
How have the members responded? According to
Dressel, once the program got under way, resistance was replaced by pride as the
“clean card” holders came to the realization that a manageable threat to their
security on the jobsite had been removed.
Of course those who failed may not see
themselves as beneficiaries, but they’re free to exercise their freedom of
choice elsewhere.
Do you see this as an
important subject?
Would you like for MSW Management to
focus attention on the subject?
If so, how about giving me a jump start by shooting me a
quick email about your organization’s drug and alcohol abuse program…what’s
involved, how long it’s been in place, and how successful you feel it’s
been?
Send John an Email