CARIBOU, Maine — Drug use, abuse, or addiction among employees and their family members can cause expensive problems for business and industry, ranging from lost productivity, absenteeism, injuries, fatalities, theft, and low employee morale, to an increase in health care, legal liabilities and workers’ compensation costs.
For these reasons, a local substance abuse prevention coalition is putting together an “Eggs and Issues” business breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 15 from 7:45-9:15 a.m. at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center to help area employers learn how to manage, and hopefully prevent such matters in their own organizations.
“Unfortunately, we are hearing from businesses in our area that it is becoming more and more difficult to keep good workers because many of those workers abuse drugs and alcohol,” said Mark Shea, project coordinator for the Power of Prevention Coalition, one of the event organizers.
“Everyone knows that substance abuse can have a devastating effect on the user and his or her family and friends,” said Shea, “but sometimes we overlook the effect that it can have on the workplace. Employers, co-workers and even customers stand to be hurt when someone’s substance abuse problem spills over to their work life.”
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), drug abuse can cause a multitude of problems at work: the after-effects of substance use, such as withdrawal or hangover, can influence job performance; a preoccupation with obtaining and using substances while at work can interfere with attention and concentration; employees may engage in illegal activities at work, including selling illegal drugs to other employees; and psychological or stress-related effects due to drug use by a family member, friend or co-worker may affect another person’s job performance.
NCADD also claims that drug abuse nationwide costs employers an estimated $81 billion annually.
“Employers and human resources professionals are looking for solid solutions to these problems,” said Shea. “We were especially moved by one local set of circumstances that was brought to our attention, so we decided to do something about it. That’s how the idea of ‘Eggs and Issues’ was born.”
Due to the growing concern among local businesses, Power of Prevention has teamed up with its sister organization at Cary Medical Center, Healthy You, to offer the “Eggs and Issues: The Effects of Substance Abuse on the Workplace” breakfast.
According to Shea, “the impetus for the event was simply through casual conversations with people in the area who have had issues with employees that are having substance abuse problems,” Shea said.
“The underlying theme to these conversations is that employers are having difficulty retaining employees due to substance abuse away from the worksite that either spilled over to the work setting, or that caused the employee to miss work on a regular basis. I think it is important to note that, fortunately, there are many area businesses that have never had to deal with this issue, and they hopefully never will. This event will help prepare an employer to deal with the issue if it arises, or to educate them about how to deal with a current issue.”
The meeting will feature a panel of engaging speakers to address the workplace and economic impacts of substance abuse among the local workforce, with a focus on meth, bath salts, and prescription drugs.
According to Shea, “attendees will learn more about these drugs, and what employers can do to assist in reducing the negative impact of drug use on the workplace. We have lined up local speakers from the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office, Aroostook Mental Health Center and Hope Recovery Services with individuals who are experts in their respective fields and can provide valuable, straightforward information.”
Shea had an interesting three-legged stool analogy he used to describe the three vital steps necessary for treating this issue of substance abuse in the workplace.
“When addressing the idea of reducing substance abuse, I like to think of the process as a three-legged stool. The legs of the stool include prevention, law enforcement, and treatment and recovery; if one of those legs were to be removed from the efforts to reduce substance abuse, the stool would fall over, rendering it basically ineffective,” said Shea. “The speakers we have lined up are experts in each individual part of the process and will help event attendees learn about what drugs are common in our area, how to identify the signs of substance abuse and what they can do about it. Ultimately, we want the takeaway for attendees to be real information and resources that they can use in their own workplaces. If a local employer or human resources professional attends this event and then returns to work and realizes that they are seeing some of the signs identified by the panel, we want them to know what they can do about it, and who they can call to get some help.”
The breakfast will be sponsored by Virtual Managed Solutions of Caribou. There is no cost to attend.
For more information contact Shea by e-mail at mark@powerofprevention.org.
