NSC poll of Indiana employers shows 80% of workplaces affected by prescription drug abuse

A recent survey conducted by the National Safety Council and the Indiana Attorney General's Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force shows that 80 percent of employers in the state say prescription drug abuse has had an impact on their workplaces, yet only 53 percent have a written policy on prescription drug use at work, and less than 30 percent offer training on the subject.

Drug poisonings, largely from opioid painkillers, have increased fivefold in Indiana since 1999 and now eclipse motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury-related death among adults.

“It is important for employers to understand that the most fatally abused drug today may be sitting in their employees’ medicine cabinets,” Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of NSC, said in a press release. “Ensuring employees are as safe and healthy as possible should be every employer’s highest priority. It is our hope that employers take the lead on this emerging safety threat so our workplaces can be safer than ever before.”

NSC encourages all employers to download the free Prescription Drug Employer Kit for help developing policies and managing opioid use at work.