Pain Killer medication abuse in the workplace, its effect on workers’ compensation and employee safety in the State of Ohio.

In the State of Ohio, there were an estimated 484,000 Non-Medical pain reliever abusers for the period of 2005 & 2006 ( Source: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, National Survey of Drug Use, 2005-2006). According to the Ohio Abuse Monitoring Network (Highlight of Statewide drug trends, June 2007 to January 2008), treatment providers and crime lab personnel report that Vicodin® (Hydrocodone & Acetaminophen) and Percocet® (Oxycodone & Acetaminophen) continue to be the most commonly diverted and abused opioids in the state. There is also a continued connection between initial opioid abuse and subsequent heroin use.

What does all this mean for employers? The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and Drug Free Workplace Program web page reports that 47 percent of serious accidents and 40 percent of fatal workplace accidents have drug or alcohol involvement (Source: Occupational Medicine). 38 percent to 50 percent of all workers’ compensation claims are related to alcohol or drug abuse in the workplace (Source: National Council on Compensation Insurance); 74 percent of drug abusers are employed (Source: NIDA & HHS). Up to 17 percent of employees in every company are substance abusers (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics). The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation reports that substance abusers are 33 to 50 percent less productive. Users are absent an average of three weeks more per year and are tardy more than non-users.

Substance abusers also file up to 400 percent more costly claims than non-users. Estimates of the cost of substance abuse treatment per abuser vary from $9,000 to $25,000 annually. In cases of workers’ compensation claims, the Ohio law (4123.54: Compensation in case of injury & death) states coverage is not provided if (1) Purposely self-inflicted; (2) If injury is caused by the employee being intoxicated or under the influence of controlled substance that is not prescribed by a physician.

In summary , the cost range of substance abusers in Ohio varies from $ 3,000,000 to $ 12,000,000 per year to the state’s economy. Over a quarter of all employees employed per company are substance abusers, and almost half of the accidents in the workplace are caused by drug abusers. While these statistics vary state-to-state, by performing drug testing on your employees, you will greatly reduce the number of accidents in your company, lower your workers’ compensation claims, improve productivity, have fewer product defects, improved safety, and will help control crime & violence.