Workplace Screening and Brief Intervention

Excessive alcohol use by employees and their family members has a substantial impact on the cost of doing business in the United States. Problems associated with alcohol use are not just confined to drinking during work hours. Excessive drinking boosts absenteeism, diminishes productivity, and contributes to skyrocketing health care costs.

Analysis of recent government surveys related to substance use and the workplace reveals the true extent ofhazardous alcohol use and the negative effect it has on the American workplace. A research team led by Eric Goplerud, Ph.D., the director of Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems at The George Washington University Medical Center, has found that the burden of workplace alcohol problems is disproportionately distributed, with industries such as construction, hospitality, and manufacturing having higher than average rates of alcohol misuse and dependency.