Abstract
BackgroundThe use of alcohol and drugs may affect workplace safety and productivity. Little is known about the magnitude of this problem in Norway.MethodsEmployee recruitment methods with or without individual follow-up were compared. The employees filled in a questionnaire and provided a sample of oral fluid. Samples were analysed for alcohol, ethyl glucuronide (EtG; a biological marker of recent large alcohol intake), psychoactive medicinal drugs and illegal drugs.ResultsParticipation rates with and without individual follow-up were 96% and 68%, respectively. Alcohol was negative (≤0.1 mg/ml) in all samples, but 21.0% reported the intake of alcohol during the last 24 h. EtG was positive (>2.2 ng/ml) in 2.1% of the samples. In-efficiency or hangover at work during the past year was reported by 24.3%, while 6.2% had been absent from work due to the use of alcohol. The combination of self-report and analytical testing indicated that medicinal or illegal drugs had been used during the last 48 h by 5.1% and 1.7% of the participants, respectively; while only 4.2% and 0.4% admitted the use in the questionnaire.ConclusionsSelf-reported data suggest that hangover after drinking alcohol appears to be the largest substance abuse problem at Norwegian workplaces, resulting in absence and inefficiency at work. Analysis of oral fluid revealed that the use of illegal drugs was more common than drinking alcohol before working or at the workplace. The analysis of oral fluid may be a valuable tool in obtaining additional information on alcohol and drug use compared to using questionnaires alone.
Highlights
The use of alcohol and drugs may affect workplace safety and productivity
Alcohol use may affect workplace safety and productivity primarily in three ways: impairment due to the presence of alcohol in the blood, residual after-effects after large alcohol intake, which may result in short-term sick leave, and long-term sick leave due to chronic illnesses caused by alcohol abuse [1]
The cut-off concentrations were lower than those proposed by SAMHSA [32] in the USA because we wanted to detect all recent use of medicinal and illegal drugs to compare with self-reported drug use
Summary
The use of alcohol and drugs may affect workplace safety and productivity. Alcohol use may affect workplace safety and productivity primarily in three ways: impairment due to the presence of alcohol in the blood, residual after-effects after large alcohol intake (in this report called "hang-over"), which may result in short-term sick leave, and long-term sick leave due to chronic illnesses caused by alcohol abuse [1]. The use of psychoactive drugs may affect safety and productivity. 20% of workers in Norway are using prescribed medicinal drugs with abuse potential, primarily sleeping agents, tranquillizers, and Workplace drug testing (WDT) programmes were initiated in the USA in the 1980s to reduce alcohol and drug related accidents on the workplace [6]. Today an important purpose of WDT programmes is to get substance abusing employees into treatment, provide the opportunity to get help, and to get the individuals back on the job [11]
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