An Analysis of Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs

Workplace Module

The 1994 NHSDA workplace module also included a series of questions about drug testing. The first such question was

"Are there any circumstances under which your workplace or business tests its employees for drug or alcohol usage?"

If the respondent answered yes, the question was followed by a series of inquiries about the type of testing that was conducted:

"Under what circumstances does your workplace or business test its employees for drug or alcohol usage? Is it conducted as part of the hiring process? On a random basis? Based on the reasonable suspicion of a supervisor? Following a work-related accident?"

There are several outcome variables that concern workplace behaviors and perceptions. Number of employers is measured by the following question:

"How many different employers have you had in the past 12 months?"

Although the number of responses ranged from only one employer to 75 different employers, a preliminary analysis determined that there were important differences among those who reported one or two employers and those who reported three or more employers in the past 12 months. Therefore, the analysis distinguishes those reporting 1-2 employers and 3 or more employers.

Absence from work is measured by two different questions. The first asked about the number of days missed due to illness or injury:

"During the past 30 days—that is, from your 30-day reference date up to and including today—how many whole days of work did you miss because you were sick or injured?"

The second question asked about the number of unexcused absences the respondent had in the past 30 days:

"During the past 30 days, how many whole days of work did you miss because you just didn't want to be there?"

For the first question, previous analysis indicated that missing two or more days tended to be a better discriminator of the potential effects of drug use (Hoffmann et al., 1996). Therefore, missing one or fewer days is distinguished from missing two or more days due to illness or injury. For the second question, zero unexcused absences is distinguished from one or more unexcused absences in the past 30 days.

There were three questions that involved separation from work. The specific questions are

"During the past 12 months, have you voluntarily left an employer?"

"During the past 12 months, have you involuntarily left an employer for any of the following reasons? You were fired? You were permanently laid off?"

Workplace accidents are measured by the following question:

"Have you been involved in a work-related accident during the past 12 months?"

Although there was a follow-up question that asked about work-related accidents in the past 30 days, too few respondents answered yes to this question to make it useful in the analysis. [ Fewer than two percent of the respondents reported a work-related accident in the past 30 days. Each question about a work-related accident was followed by a question about drug testing: "As a result of any work-related accidents you were involved in...were you required to take an alcohol or drug test? " Once again, the number who reported that they were required to take a drug test (less than one percent) was too few for analytic purposes. ]

There are two other outcome variables may be related to worker drug use. The first is based on a set of questions that inquire whether the respondent would work for an employer that has a drug testing program. The questions are similar to the drug testing questions discussed above:

"Would you be more or less likely to want to work for an employer that tests its employees for drug or alcohol usage as part of the hiring process? On a random basis? Based on the reasonable suspicion of a supervisor? Following a work-related accident?"

For each question, the variables distinguish those who would be less likely to work for an employer that drug tests from those for whom it would make no difference and those who would be more likely to work for such an employer.

The final set of questions asked in the module involved workplace information and policies concerning drug and alcohol use. The questions are

"At your workplace, have you ever been provided with any information regarding the use of alcohol or drugs?"

"At your workplace, is there a written policy regarding employee use of alcohol or drugs?"

"Through your workplace, is there access to any type of employee assistance program or other type of counseling program for employees who have alcohol or drug-related problems?"

Table B.1Percentage of Full-Time Workers, Age 18-49, Reporting Current Illicit Drug Use and Heavy Alcohol Use, by Establishment Size, 1994
Establishment Size		Current Illicit Drug Use		Heavy Alcohol Use
Three Categories 1-24 employees 25-499 employees 500 or more employees		11.0 5.4 5.4		9.6 7.9 7.3
Five Categories 1-9 employees 10-24 employees 25-99 employees 100-499 employees 500 or more employees		11.7 10.0 6.5 4.2 5.4		9.1 10.3 9.6 6.2 7.3

Note: Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on five or more occasions in the past 30 days.

Source: Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994-B.

This page was last updated on June 03, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.