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The True Cost of Substance Abuse in the UK Workplace

Mon 01 / 10 / 18

The True Cost of Substance Abuse in the UK Workplace

Sussex SEO explore the hidden cost of alcoholism and substance abuse in the workplace. 

Research has shown that alcoholism and substance abuse in the workplace has been on the rise in the UK, costing businesses and the government several billion pounds every year. This infographics produced by Sussex SEO Ltd shows that alcoholism and drug abuse strains workplace relationships and productivity leading to an increase in industrial and workplace accidents. 40% of all industrial accidents and 60% of all incidents of poor performance have been reported to be caused by substance abuse.

Eytan Alexander, CEO at UKAT, says “available data has shown that drug abuse costs businesses in the UK 100 billion Euros annually, which is equivalent to 10% of the annual payroll. One in every 10 small business owners has reported that an employee or employees have clocked in for work under the influence of controlled substances, including narcotics, heroin, opiates, and/or alcohol.”

UKAT has also observed several reported cases of injury, absenteeism, sleeping on the job, extra sick leave, lowered productivity, fatal accidents, and even death. These comprise the major impacts of alcoholism and drug abuse in the workplace.

When interviewed, 33% of employees in the UK admitted that they had gone to work with a hangover, 83% admitted that when they showed up at work with a hangover, the way they executed their routine tasks was affected, and 22% admitted that when they showed up at work with a hangover, it led them to make mistakes. This shows exactly how alcohol misuse alone is costing the UK 17 million Euros on missed work days and 7.3 billion Euros on lost productivity yearly.

According to their findings, the industries that have the biggest issues with drinking, measured per one thousand workers, include construction and mining, wholesale, retail, leisure and hospitality, business, maintenance and repair, and, finally, installation. Also, the industries that have the highest percentage of drug use include sports and media, food preparation and serving, construction, installation, maintenance and repair, and, finally, sales.

Due to the rise in substance abuse in the workplace, work drug testing programmes have been set up to help control the situation and ensure a safer workplace. The drug test results obtained in 2016 showed the highest rate of substance abuse in the workplace over the past 12 years, since 2004. The report showed that there has been an increase of 43% in the urine drug tests that returned positive results between 2007 and 2011. It also indicated that 3.2% of employees overall tested positive in drug tests. Cocaine, marijuana, and opiate positives showed an increase of 44%, 60%, and 66% respectively.

With this available data, it is obvious that workforce enlightenment against the dangers of substance abuse in the workplace is essential. Also, workers and employees suffering from substance addiction and alcohol misuse require beneficial therapy to help them make better choices and take the first step towards a healthy, drug-free life.

About UKAT

UK Addiction Treatment Centres is a brand that is focused on helping more people to see substance abuse and addiction as an illness rather than a life choice. They have highly-trained practitioners, helping thousands of people to identify and confront their addiction through proven methodologies.

Website: https://www.ukat.co.uk/

Thanks to Sussex SEO for writing this blog 

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