Let Your EAP Help You Stay Drug Free & Increase Quality of Life

New Bridge EAP Services provides treatment alternatives for employees who have substance abuse problems.

Many private and non-Federal public sector employers have implemented drug-free programs.  There is continued interest to seek advice/guidance in achieving a drug-free workplace.  Today's medical advances have created possibilities to maintain good health and a long life.  For many individuals and families, those possibilities are tragically  wiped out, crippled or destroyed mentally and/or physically by the use and effects of addiction. Employers find themselves in a global marketplace while recognizing that this nation's rate of drug use is among the highest of any nation bringing goods and services into that marketplace.

Statistical data indicates:

1. Substance abuse problems cost American business an estimated $81 billion in lost production. Up to 40% of industrial fatalities and nearly half of all industrial injuries can be linked to substance abuse.

2. Alcohol and drug abuse cost the nation $246 billion annually, or nearly $1000 each for every man, woman and child.

3. One in five workers report that they have had to work harder, redo work, cover for a co-worker or have been put in danger or injured as a result a fellow employee's alcohol use.

4. Substance abuse is estimated to cause 500 million lost workdays annually.  Drug-using employees take 3 times as many sick benefits as other workers. They are 5 times more likely to file a worker's compensation claim.

5. Substance abusers are more than twice as likely than those who are not to have changed employers three or more times in the past year.

Employers have also been stimulated by Federal leadership and incentives, initially articulated in 1986 when President Reagan issued Executive Order 12564 to the Federal Government "the nation's largest employer" requiring that it establish and maintain a drug-free workplace.  The Congress set terms for implementation of that order in Pub. L. 100-71. There followed in late 1988 regulations from the Departments of Transportation and Defense and new legislation, the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988. The Omnibus Transportation Testing Act mandates alcohol and drug testing of safety-sensitive employees in the transportation and pipeline industries; providing incentives for provisions of implementation for a drug-free workplace.

Your EAP Substance Abuse Professionals have over twenty years experience of helping guide Employers in establishing and staying current with today's necessary policies and procedures.

1. Development of a comprehensive written policy

2. Supervisory training and employee education training for prevention/ awareness regarding their role in a drug free workplace.

3. Availability of employee assistance program's Substance Abuse Professionals.

4. Identification of illegal drug users.

5. Our EAP Substance Abuse Professional services plays an important role with knowledge of drug testing. We have helped design and carefully monitored services on a consistent basis.

6. When necessary, we have helped secure services for both employers who are mandated to have such programs and for non department of transportation employers who are interested in comprehensive quality services.

New Bridge EAP Services was developed in conjunction with public policies written by The National Institute on Drug Abuse.  Charles R. Schuster, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse stated, that the "drug-free workplace model plan's foundation is a policy which offers a helping hand while clearly communicating that use of illegal drugs will not be tolerated. . . .  Essential elements of the plan is worthy of careful consideration as employers chart or alter their course." 

The model offers non-Federal employers the benefit of the Federal experience. This model within the Federal sector was effected by the uniqueness of each Federal Agency. Its application outside the Federal context must be flexible enough to accommodate the needs of the great variety of employers, work sites, and workforce characteristics which constitute the private and non-Federal public workplace. Because of the need for flexible application of this model, because laws that affect the workplace may vary by State and locality, and because of the complexity of certain components of a comprehensive plan, e.g., the drug testing component, employers may want to consult with legal counsel prior to plan implementation.

Please consider the above information and contact us with any questions or comments.

Maximize life, dignity and care with affirming action.