A new set of tools is now available to help employers manage a drug and alcohol-free workplace.  Making Your Workplace Drug-Free: A Kit for Employers was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to provide employers with simple steps to assist employees dealing with alcohol and substance abuse.

Excessive alcohol use costs U.S. employers billions in lost productivity and additional health care costs every year. Research based on the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that more than 80 percent of binge and heavy alcohol users are employed full- or part-time.

The kit explains to employers how to “protect and prepare the workplace, identify substance abuse related-issues, and provide prevention education and assistance to employees,” according to a SAMHSA press release.

SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, PhD, said the kit is a collection of “tested, practical strategies.” One strategy to reduce alcohol consumption of at-risk employees is to implement workplace screening and brief intervention (SBI). The strategies in the kit are based on experiences of large and small employers, practitioners, researchers, and evaluators in the field.

The kit is broken into 10 sections:

1. How To Use This Workplace Kit

2. Components of a Drug-Free Workplace

3. Needs Assessment

4. Policy Development

5. Employee Education

6. Supervisory Training

7. Employee Assistance Program

8. Drug Testing in the Workplace

9. Workplace Substance Abuse Prevention Resources

10. Marketing Tools and Implementation Guide