A few facts help describe the human and economic toll of substance abuse in the workplace:

• About 23 million Americans suffer from alcohol and drug addiction: 75 percent of those people are employed, but only 20 percent get help for their problem.
• Eighty percent of heavy drinkers (five or more drinks in one occasion at least five times in the last month) in the United States are employed.
• Alcohol and drug abuse cost American businesses about $100 billion in lost productivity each year.

Also, consider that the alcoholic/drug addicted employee incurs twice the health care costs of the average employee, is more likely to steal from their employer, more likely to be involved in workplace accidents, three times more likely to report for work late, and five times more likely to file a worker's compensation claim. Workers in the throes of their addiction not only expose themselves to danger and impaired performance, but they compromise the safety, productivity, and morale of fellow workers.

The impact: A CEO, with the future of 50,000 employees in his hands, blows off a crucial business decision for his next line of cocaine. A hung-over construction worker's carelessness causes the death of two fellow workers. A drug-addicted nurse administers a fatal overdose of medication.

Eric Goplerud, a research professor who works with Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems at George Washington University Department of Health Policy, puts real numbers to the impact of "alcohol abuse" in the workplace. Goplerud helped develop an online tool called "The Ensuring Solutions Alcohol Cost Calculator" that computes company-specific information on the extent and cost of alcohol problems in the workplace. The tool estimates the number of people at a particular company who suffer from alcohol problems and how those problems affect the company's bottom line.

For instance, a financial services company with 60,000 employees can expect to have 3,240 employees with an alcohol problem. That translates to 65,966 work days missed and 16,103 days of lowered productivity, for a cost of $10 million. Add to that another $16 million for alcohol-related health care costs, as well as several thousand family members who have alcohol problems, too.

One cost analysis study by the Chevron Corporation in the mid 1990s found that its drug-free workplace program, one that encouraged access to addiction treatment, saved $10 for every $1 spent on treatment (savings realized in reduced health care for employees, increased productivity, and retention of valued employees).

Figures like those make for a compelling case to address addiction in the workplace. A recent workplace addiction survey of 200 companies (commissioned by Hazelden) found that more than 80 percent of human resources professionals recognize addiction as a chronic disease and would recommend treatment for an addicted executive or rank-and-file worker, rather than firing them.

On the other hand, the survey found that over half of the companies surveyed lacked expertise in identifying addiction in the workplace. The study reveals "a stunning disconnect in corporate America," said William C. Moyers, vice president of External Affairs for Hazelden. "Human resource professionals recognize that addiction treatment works and know that recovering employees come back after treatment as productive members of their companies. Yet at many companies, these enlightened beliefs aren't translated into the practice of directing employees into treatment, thanks to the stigma of addiction and a lack of knowledge about it."

Addressing addiction problems early on in the workplace is the humane thing to do, the cost-effective thing to do, said Dr. James Quayle, vice president of Medical Affairs at Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Quayle said his company of 60,000 employees has had an alcohol and drug policy for over 25 years that stresses education and early intervention.

"I don't know why a company would be resistant to treating the illness and getting an employee into recovery," he said. "Recovering employees come back to us better than ever. They are rejuvenated, productive employees and are grateful for the chance to turn their lives around."

For resources on addressing addiction in the workplace, go to www.hazelden.org/business, http://www.ensuringsolutions.org/, or www.dol.gov/workingpartners/welcome.html, the site for the U.S. Department of Labor's "Working Partners for an Alcohol- and Drug-Free Workplace."

--Published March 22, 2004