Substance abuse in the workplace is common, and although it can affect any business, safety-sensitive positions experience a greater financial burden. The cost of substance abuse leads to higher insurance premiums, employee turnover, absenteeism, an increase in accidents, workers' compensation claims and errors, while lowering employee productivity.
Due to the often risky nature of the jobs in a safety-sensitive industry, such as oil and gas, petrochemical or construction, workers are subject to a higher number of occupational injuries. The resulting high insurance costs are only increased further by the increased likelihood of substance abuse in a safety-sensitive industry versus other industries.
Not only do employers have the burden of higher insurance and workers' compensation rates, but the rising popularity of marijuana as a legal drug and the ever-growing opioid epidemic continues to increase the likelihood of any accidents or fatalities occurring.
The construction and trucking industries are two of the largest safety-sensitive industries in the U.S., and they have higher incident rates than all other U.S. industries combined. According to the National Safety Council, 15 percent of construction workers struggle with substance abuse, a number twice that of the national average. Although the construction industry reported the highest number of fatal injuries in 2016, with 991 fatalities, it did not have the highest reported fatal injury rate. The transportation industry surpassed all other industries, with more than 40 percent of injuries resulting in a fatality.
Across all industries, the average employee with an untreated substance abuse disorder costs their employer an average of $7,000 per year in excess health care expenses, absenteeism and turnover costs. Current Consulting narrowed this down in a recent whitepaper to only safety-sensitive industry employees and considered lost productivity, cost of replacement/training, risk of injury, death and downtime at the facility. Once you factor in all the average costs of an employee with a drug abuse problem, the total annual cost of a substance-abusing employee in a safety-sensitive industry could reach $164,000 on the low end or up to $1.7 million in a worst-case scenario.
The large potential cost for a substance- abusing employee is a result of the incredibly high cost of single incidents that cause downtime, lawsuits and injuries in safety-sensitive industries. A better measurement for the cost of substance abuse by an employee at an individual company is $35,000, or five times the all-industry average of $7,000 per year. This considers the higher cost of labor, time and effort to train and replace manpower, and the potentially high cost of an on-the-job injury. Employers often underestimate just how much substance abuse can cost their company.
For example, a company with 500 employees in a safety-sensitive environment that did not do drug testing would see an estimated $360,000 in additional costs from drug abuse annually.
DISA Vice President of Operations David Eades added, "It is imperative that employers understand the impact of substance abuse and strive to implement a drug testing program that will deter employees from using. Any deterrent from drug abuse reduces workplace injuries,
Safety-sensitive industries are at a greater risk of the detrimental impacts from substance abuse.
improves workplace safety and productivity, and decreases health care costs. Safety-sensitive industries are at a greater risk of the detrimental impacts from substance abuse. Employers must push to create a safe working environment that not only protects employees but prevents drug abuse."
For more information, visit www.disa.com or call (800) 752-6432.
