Key Statistics For Drug and Alcohol Use In the Workplace

In virtually every state you can challenge a workers compensation claim if the employee was intoxicated at the time of the accident, and if that intoxication "contributed" to the cause of the accident, according to Attorney Bill Judge. NCCI (National Council on Compensation Insurance,Boca Raton, FL) estimates that 38%-50% of all workers compensation claims involve a drug or alcohol issue. Attorney Judge has provided the following statistics to assist employers visiting our site. Here's what we know: 1-74.3% of current admitted drug users are employed [1]. 2- Up to 40 % of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism [2]. 3- 19% of those killed on the job in 1998 had drugs and/or alcohol present in postmortem toxicology report [3]. 4- Employers with drug testing have experienced a 51% reduction in workplace injury rates within two years of implementing a drug-testing program [4]. 5-A recent study showed that the average company sampled that has drug testing in place experienced an 11.41% reduction in workers' compensation experience-rating modification factor. At the same time, companies that did not implement drug-testing programs saw no decline in their workers' compensation experience-rating modification factor [5]. 6-14 states offer workers compensation financial incentives (premium discounts/presumptive denial of benefits) to employers with drug-free workplace programs. Bill Judge is an attorney who, for the past 24 years, has concentrated his practice on research, consultation, and management training related to the legal issues of substance abuse in the workplace and in our nation's schools. Attorney Judge, JD, LLM can be reached at:708-771-9474 at bjudge@lawsinhand.com Try the WC Cost Calculator to show the REAL COST of work comp. Look at WC 101 for the basics about workers comp. Workers' Comp Kit^® is a web-based online Assessment, Benchmarking and Cost Containment system for employers. It provides all the materials needed to reduce your costs significantly in 85% less time than if you designed a program from scratch. Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws are different. Consult with your corporate legal counsel before implementing any cost containment programs.