October 16, 2009
Did you know...?
October 19 - 25 is National Drug Free Work Week!
Drug-Free Work Week is a time to reinforce the importance of working drug free in positive, proactive ways. According to recent research, it’s a message that many workers need to hear.
- 75 percent of the nation’s current illegal drug users are employed—and 3.1 percent say they have actually used illegal drugs before or during work hours.
- 79 percent of the nation’s heavy alcohol users are employed—and 7.1 percent say they have actually consumed alcohol during the workday.
Drug-free workplace programs help protect employers and employees alike from the potentially devastating consequences of worker alcohol or drug abuse. Establishing policies, educating about the dangers of alcohol and drug use, deterring and detecting use, and urging people to seek help for alcohol and drug problems are smart safety strategies.
Ideas to implement a drug free workplace include:
- Implement a Drug-Free Workplace Program and Promote your Drug-Free Workplace Program – One way to do this is to distribute to all employees a copy of your drug-free workplace policy, along with a positive message about valuing health and safety, and then provide an opportunity for them to ask questions about it.
- Train supervisors - Supervisors are the individuals closest to an organization’s workforce. Conduct training to ensure supervisors understand their organization's policy on alcohol and drug use; ways to deal with workers who have performance problems that may be related to substance abuse; and how to refer employees to available assistance.
- Educate workers - To achieve a drug-free workplace, it is critical that an organization educate its workers about the nature of alcohol and drug use and its negative impact on workplace safety and productivity.
- Remind employees about the availability of EAP - If your organization has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Drug-Free Work Week presents a perfect opportunity to remind them of its availability. Such programs offer free, confidential services to help all employees, including supervisors, resolve personal and workplace problems, such as substance abuse. They also offer confidential substance abuse screenings as well as brief intervention, if warranted, and help employees locate local treatment resources.
- Offer screening tool - Organizations can use Drug-Free Work Week to encourage employees to assess their own use of alcohol and drugs and privately determine if they need help to change their behavior. For example, organizations can inform employees about the confidential, self-administered online screening tool Alcohol Screening.org and make sure all employees have access to the Internet in a private location in case they want to use it. Availability of confidential substance abuse screenings by qualified professionals could also be publicized and offered by the EAP health unit, and/or occupational nurse.
- Publicize available community treatment resources - Whether or not an organization has an onsite EAP or health unit, help for substance abuse problems is likely available nearby through a hospital, local health department or stand-alone Substance Abuse Treatment Center. Furthermore, self-help programs, such as the 12-step programs of Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon, are free and available in communities nationwide. Drug-Free Work Week is a great time to remind employees about community resources that can be helpful for a person struggling with a substance abuse problem or those who are close to him or her.
- Review your health insurance policy - Coverage for substance abuse treatment makes it more likely that employees struggling with alcohol and drug problems will seek help proactively. Review your health insurance policy to see if substance abuse treatment is covered, and if it is not, consider discussing the prospect of adding coverage with whoever handles your organization's health benefits.
Working drug free works to…
- Prevent accidents and make workplaces safer
- Improve productivity and reduce costs
- Encourage people with alcohol and drug problems to seek help
To learn more about Drug Free Work Week visit the Department of Labor’s web page at: http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/drugs/workingpartners/dfww-introduction.asp.
To learn how OHS-COMPCARE can help you with your drug free workplace program contact us at 816-559-6320 or visit our webpage at http://www.ohscompcare.com/.
***Starting Saturday October 17, 2009 our Independence location will be open from 9am – 1pm to serve your occupational medicine and urgent care needs***
*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*
To view the Tip of the Week in Spanish please visit our Tip of the Week library at http://www.ohscompcare.com/totw/.
To learn more about
services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services Team
at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com. You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.
Why choose us? Because OHS-COMPCARE has a physician on call 24/7/365 days a year to respond to our client's needs.
OHS-COMPCARE now featuring Adult Quick Care (Urgent Care Services) has seven (7) area clinical facilities:
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Independence Clinical Facility |
Johnson County Clinical Facility |
St. Joseph Clinical Facility |
Grandview Clinical Facility |
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19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200 |
10415 Lackman Road |
904 Edmond Street |
13830 S Us Highway 71 |
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Independence, MO 64055 |
Lenexa, KS 66219 |
St. Joseph, MO 64501 |
Grandview, MO 64030 |
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816-478-9299 |
913-495-9905 |
816-233-7702 |
816-761-4664 |
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After Hours Available *Beginning 10/17/09 Indep location will be open Saturday from 9am – 1pm |
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KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility |
KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility |
Wyandotte County Clinical Facility |
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1650 Broadway |
6501 East Commerce, Suite 110 |
1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200 |
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Kansas City, MO 64108 |
Kansas City, MO 64120 |
Kansas City, KS 66102 |
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816-842-2020 |
816-483-5550 |
913-596-2774 |
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Adult Quick Care provides Urgent Care to Adults and Adolescents Age 14 and Older.
No appointment is necessary at Adult Quick Care.
When you are sick or have a new injury, Adult Quick Care is your affordable, time saving choice for quality care.
To learn more about Adult Quick Care please call 816-559-6320 or visit www.adultquickcare.com.