Items Tagged with 'Drug use'

Chicago — The rate of positive drug tests for illicit substances among U.S. workers in 2018 reached a 14-year peak, with marijuana playing a significant role, according to the annual Drug Testing Index from lab services provider Quest Diagnostics.

Rapid legalization, increasing use and conflicting laws are a confusing blend for employers and safety professionals attempting to set workplace policies about marijuana.

The National Safety Council reported in January that, for the first time on record, the odds of dying from an unintentional opioid overdose in a given lifetime (1 in 96) are greater than the lifetime odds of dying in a motor vehicle-related crash (1 in 103).

Secaucus, NJ — The rate of positive drug tests rose by double digits in five of 16 major U.S. workforce industry sectors from 2015 to 2017, according to a recent analysis by lab services provider Quest Diagnostics.

Atlanta — Construction workers have the highest proportional mortality ratio for heroin- and methadone-related overdose deaths, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis of 26 occupations shows.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL — In 2017, positive tests for illicit drugs in the American workforce remained at their highest level in more than a decade, according to the annual Drug Testing Index from lab services provider Quest Diagnostics.

Denver — In Colorado, marijuana use among workers in certain jobs “in which workers have responsibility for their own safety or the safety of others” exceeds that of the state’s general workforce, according to a recent study from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Chicago — Opioid-related overdoses claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 Midwest construction workers in 2015 – part of an opioid crisis that cost the region’s industry more than $5 billion in health care expenses and lost time and production, according to a recent report from the Midwest Economic Policy Institute.

Washington – The Department of Transportation will include four semi-synthetic opioids in its drug-testing program for DOT employees, according to a final rule published in the Nov. 13 Federal Register.

Statistics show 75 percent of the 18- to 64-year-olds who have substance misuse disorders are in the workforce. As the struggles of addiction to opioid painkillers continue to affect worker safety and health, employers are being urged to take action.