Drugs

Itasca, IL – The National Safety Council has released a guide and toolkit to help employers understand what they can do to fight prescription painkiller abuse by workers.

Washington – A proposed rule from the Federal Railroad Administration would expand the scope of alcohol and drug regulations to cover employees who perform maintenance-of-way activities, which include the inspection, installation, repair and maintenance of track or roadbed.

Cambridge, MA – Narcotics are frequently prescribed within the workers’ compensation system to help relieve pain among injured workers, and the prescribing frequency varies from state to state, according to a new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute.

Arlington, VA – A group of organizations representing the truck and bus industries and law enforcement is petitioning the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to expand the scope of the agency’s proposal for establishing a national database of truck and bus drivers’ drug and alcohol test results.

Washington – The Federal Aviation Administration is extending to July 17 the comment period for its proposal to require certain foreign aircraft maintenance workers to undergo routine drug and alcohol testing.

Washington – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is extending the comment period to May 21 for a proposal that would establish a national database of commercial truck and bus drivers’ drug and alcohol testing results.

Pensacola, FL – The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine will be working together on a task force to study the safety and health issues associated with marijuana and other drug use among workers.

Washington – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed establishing a national database of commercial truck and bus drivers’ drug and alcohol testing results.

Madison, NJ – Drug use among U.S. workers has declined substantially since the Drug-Free Workplace Act was signed into law 25 years ago, but use of certain drugs is on the rise, according to Quest Diagnostics, a provider of drug-testing services.

New York – A new study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health concluded that drivers who test positive for drugs were 3 times as likely as those who test negative to be involved in a fatal crash.