More than 1 in 10 major injuries in Ontario involve high blood alcohol levels

The summer season's last great hurrah is fast approaching. And it will likely take a deadly toll on holiday revelers, confirms a new study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

The CIHI study, focused on hospitalizations for severe injury, found that alcohol was involved in at least 12% of major trauma cases in 2007–2008. For addiction treatment providers like Renascent, this does not come as a surprise. Evidence has been mounting for decades of a direct relationship between impairment (due to drugs and/or alcohol) and accident and injury both in the workplace and the larger community.

So how does this relate to you?

Whether a Manager, HR Professional, line worker or Union Steward, you are responsible for maintaining a safe work environment. In fact, the Criminal Code imposes a legal duty on “everyone who undertakes, or has the authority, to direct how another person does work or performs a task” to take reasonable steps “to prevent bodily harm to that person, or any other person, arising from that work or task.” Failure to act in accordance with this legal duty could result in executives, officers, directors and managers being charged with criminal negligence.

The CIHI study shows a strong connection between impairment and injury in the broader community, and the trend clearly exists in the workplace as well. In 1993, the National Council on Compensation Insurance reported that 38% to 50% of all workplace compensation claims are related to substance abuse. And, according to self-disclosure data collected in Canada in 1998, as many as 22% of employees drink at the workplace, or shortly before going to work.

Executives aren't exempt

The employer's legal duty is not limited to employees who do physical work. Addiction is an "equal opportunity disease"; it affects executives and professionals indiscriminately. It's just as dangerous for an employer to turn a blind eye to the top producer who uses amphetamines to "keep an edge" as it is for a union steward to keep quiet about a crane operator with a drinking problem.

Dangerous, trauma-prone positions – such as police, military, firefighters – have an even higher incidence of addiction due to the very nature of the work and concurrent conditions such as PTSD. These employees are especially vulnerable. Ironically, the workplace culture of these brave men and women is often resistant to admitting "weakness" and further encourages self-medication.

The good news

The workplace provides the greatest opportunity for change. In our culture, we derive much of our identity from what we do, and the greatest motivator for change can come from the employer. Experience shows that family members typically have little sway, but the employer does.

The bottom line

You have a lot on your plate. The last thing you need is to have a major accident or injury happen on your watch. More importantly, you don’t want to be left dealing with the fallout if consumption of alcohol or drugs is a contributing factor ... especially if investigation shows that appropriate pre-emptive action could have prevented or reduced the risk of accident or injury.

Programs such as EAP, Absence Management, Accident Prevention, and Disability Management are simply not enough where addiction is concerned. It’s up to you to be vigilant and look for signs of addiction. It’s up to you to take appropriate action when those signs are evident.

Don't let one of your employees become a statistic.

For more information, contact Renascent Workplace Solutions at 1-866-232-1212, x 4960 or by email.