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Trends in Marijuana Legalization: A Wake Up Call for Employers

Trends in Marijuana Legalization: A Wake Up Call for Employers

1 Feb 2016 Science, Workplace
This year, potentially nine U.S. states will contend with new recreational marijuana ballot initiatives. Among those, Arizona, Massachusetts, Nevada, and California are the target areas for expanding the treatment of marijuana like alcohol, which may produce significant outcomes to the workplace landscape. Various other states will grapple with introducing or widening medical marijuana policies, widely viewed as the first step toward becoming recreational-marijuana friendly, but consider this: If California alone has a change in law, one-sixth of U.S. employees will live in states where recreational marijuana is legal.

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State of Safety: Changing Demographics

New Open Carry Law: Should Businesses Opt out?

6 Jan 2016 Lifestyle, Workplace
Oil-producer Chevron is one of several companies that have chosen to opt out of a state’s new gun open-carry law that took effect on Jan. 1, 2016. Which other companies are following suit?
Chevron, the largest employer in downtown Houston, has informed its employees that it’s opting out of the new Texas open-carry law.

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safety

State of Safety: Changing Demographics

19 Dec 2015 Safety, Workplace

For years, the number of older workers on the job has been increasing, and that number is expected to continue to rise in the near future.

Older workers bring with them a wealth of knowledge from their years of experience. But they also bring increased risk of on-the-job fatalities and severe injuries. If employers want to stem the potential tide of life-threatening and costly incidents among aging workers, the time to act is now.

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Prescription Painkiller and the Workforce

Prescription Painkillers and the Workforce

27 Sep 2015 Safety, Workplace
Bill Butler took pride in his ability to move heavy objects without assistance. However, the machinist experienced lower back pain. He was prescribed prescription painkillers, specifically hydrocodone, to relieve the pain and, after developing a tolerance, began taking methadone.

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Stop Work Authority

STOP WORK AUTHORITY

22 May 2015 Safety, Workplace

A new job can seem a bit overwhelming, and it’s common for a recent hire to feel uncomfortable. That discomfort may prevent the worker from speaking up about a potentially unsafe environment.

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Marijuana in the Workplace: Guidance for Occupational Health Professionals and Employers

Marijuana in the Workplace: Occupational Health Professionals

3 May 2015 Workplace

Marijuana (cannabis) is the most frequently used illicit drug of abuse in the United States and worldwide. Moreover, it is second only to alcohol as the most prevalent psychoactive substance seen in cases of driving under the influence of drugs. It is also by a wide margin, the drug most often detected in workplace drug-testing programs. The primary psychoactive substance in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, known simply as THC. Present in steadily increasing concentrations in street-purchased, smokeable plant material, the THC content in marijuana averaged 3% in the 1980s, but by 2012 it had increased to 12%. (Read entire article)

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Marijuana in the Workplace: Occupational Health Professionals

Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder by Industry

2 May 2015 Healthcare, Workplace

Substance use negatively affects U.S. industry through lost productivity, workplace accidents and injuries, employee absenteeism, low morale, and increased illness. U.S. companies lose billions of dollars a year because of employees’ alcohol and drug use and related problems.1 Research shows that the rate of substance use varies by occupation and industry.2 The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) gathers information about substance use and dependence or abuse. NSDUH defines illicit drugs as marijuana/hashish, cocaine (including crack), inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, or prescription-type drugs used nonmedically.3 Heavy alcohol use is defined as drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion (i.e., at the same time or within a couple of hours of each other) on 5 or more days in the past 30 days. NSDUH also includes a series of questions to assess symptoms of dependence on or abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs during the past year. These questions are used to classify persons as dependent on or abusing substances based on criteria in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).4 In this report, dependence on or abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs is referred to as a “substance use disorder.” (Read more: source: samsha.gov)

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