DRUG, ALCOHOL USE IN WORKPLACE TO BE TOPIC OF CONFERENCE IN CAPE MAY 22

Drug and alcohol use in industry is expensive.

"Drug use in industry is increasing," said Thomas Ruck, an industrial specialist for SmithKline Beecham of St. Louis. "Right now, drugs in the workplace are costing the nation's business and industry $150 billion a year."

Ruck, who will be one of a number of speakers during a day-long "Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the Workplace" workshop at Cape Girardeau May 22, said that SmithKline Beecham, a clinical laboratory, recently conducted 1.9 million drug tests. Eleven percent of those tests were positive."

"The costs to business and industry because of alcoholism are also staggering," says Bill Rasmuson of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services in Cape Girardeau. "We have charts and figures which show that costs to business and industry associated with alcohol abuse in the workplace are about $116.7 billion annually in the U.S."

Costs include a number of variables absenteeism and sick leave, decreased productivity, poor judgments, insurance rates and workers compensation claims and increased accidents.

"The average annual cost to a business for one person with alcohol problems is $8,551," said Rasmuson. "A person with an alcohol problem is absent an average of 22 days a year. He or she functions at about 67 percent of their potential."

Rasmuson said that most people with an alcohol problem, however, do work above that average.

"They don't want to lose their jobs," he said, adding that statistics show that "about nine percent of all employees" have an alcohol problem.

A total of nine speakers will be present for conference, to be held at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

The conference, sponsored by the Industrial Relations Council of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, will feature speakers discussing various aspects of the drug and alcohol problem and will include a 45-minute question and answer session with all seminar participants at 4 p.m.

"We've arranged a variety of speakers," said Linda Minner of the chamber here. Four of the speakers are from Cape Girardeau: Marilyn Curtis, director of the laboratory at St. Francis Medical Center; Dr. Anthony C. Zoffuto, a member of the Internal Medicine Group practice at Cape Girardeau; Marti Sturm, director of St. Francis Center for Recovery; and Wally Allstun, director of the Regional Employee Assistance Program.

Cost of the program is $30. It will be limited to the first 80 registrants.

Among subjects on the day's agenda are:

Drugs and alcohol costs to your company.

How to establish a screening program.

Identifying problems in your company.

Intervention.

Employee assistance programs.

Role of a Medical Review Officer.

Legal considerations.

State and Federal Department of Transportation regulations.

Two speakers on the program Ruck and Dave Reiter, both of SmithKline Beecham, will open the program at 8:30 a.m., discussing the magnitude of the problem in the work environment.

Elbert Watkins, a corporate safety director with Fru-Con Construction Corp., St. Louis, will discuss implementing a drug program in the workplace. Watkins, a 15-year veteran in safety management, has been directly responsible for the development and implementation of the Fru-Con Interdiction Program, a screening and intervention program. He will discuss tips on policy and practice to help avoid problems with government agencies, the courts and employees.

Dr. Leland McClure, toxicology manager with SmithKline Beecham, and Curtis will discuss what to look for, procedures and lab selection.

Zoffuto, who is certified by the American Society on Addiction Medicine, will present the role of the medical review officer in internal medicine. He is involved in both internal medicine and the practice of occupational medicine.

Sturm will review warning signs of the chemically dependent worker and discuss how intervention in implemented and the treatment options available.

Wallstun will discuss the Regional Employee Assistance Program, how it works and how businesses can benefit from it.

Vance D. Miller, an employment law attorney from St. Louis, will provide participants with legal information related to abuse in the workplace. He will touch on how to recruit, screen, interview and test with minimum risk to avoid personal liability.