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About 9% of North -American workers in the early 30’s use alcohol, marijuana or hard drugs while working, according to a July 8 report by Ohio State University researchers.
The risk of substance use was the highest among workers in the preparation of food, service and safety occupations, including construction and transport. Based on previous studies on the use of employee substances and workplace strategies, researchers suggested complete policies and support interventions to help workers.
“Especially for those who work in manual works of blue or heavy neck, they often have limited access to support to address the use of substances,” said Sehun Oh, an associate professor of social work at Ohio State University, in a statement. “It is easy to blame someone to use substances, but we want to pay attention to understanding their working conditions and their barriers to the workplace.”
Published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, the study included more than 5,000 employees who participated in the 1997 Longitudinal National Survey of Youth, which included people between the ages of 12 and 17 in 1997 and followed them until 2022. The surveys were conducted by the Ohio State State Human Resources Research Center and the study focused on the 2015-2016 survey data.
Among the workers who reported the use of substances immediately before or during a work shift last month, 5.6% said they drank alcohol, 3.1% used marijuana and 0.8% took cocaine, opioids or other hard drugs.
Researchers found higher risks of substance abuse among food industry workers (for all types of substance abuse), greater alcohol consumption among white -necked workers (especially when commercial relationships or successes are being built) and greater consumption of alcohol and marijuana in safety occupations (such as construction, maintenance and transport).
In a 2023 study, researchers found that comprehensive policies for the use of labor substances, including recovery -friendly options, were related to a significant decrease in employee alcohol and drug use. In another study of 2023, OH found that the availability of workplace support services, such as advice, led to lower marijuana rates and other illicit consumptions of drugs.
“Our research shows that those in adverse working conditions with many barriers to economic and well -being resources tend to use substances as a coping mechanism, either related to an emotional toll or physical requirements not only of working conditions, but also their life circumstances,” said Oh. “More structural support is needed to deal with these huge implications for the health of workers and others, and to reduce the stigma associated with the use of substances.”
Drug test traps increased more than six times by 2023, marking the highest rate in 30 years, according to a report of Quest Diagnostics. Although drug test positivity decreased slightly for safety workers, they also had a greater increase in trap attempts, the analysis was found.
The positivity of the marijuana test after a work accident also reached a maximum of 25 years in 2022, according to another report of diagnostics of Quest. The increase corresponds to the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in certain states, said Quest.
