Corporate Initiatives for a Drug Free Workplace

The issue of illicit substance abuse in the workplace was not perceived as a major problem in many of America’s corporations, despite growing evidence that the majority of abusers were employed in the nation’s workplaces and estimates that the problem was costing these very employers billions of dollars a year. 

In the forefront of those private sector efforts to change that attitude was Hoffmann-La Roche's Corporate Initiatives for a Drug Free Workplace. Created at the behest of HLR's CEO in response to a State of the Union address by President Reagan, Corporate Initiatives was designed to mobilize corporate America to confront the illicit drug problem in their workplaces.

Corporate Initiatives enabled companies with successful workplace programs to share their experiences and help others achieve progress in drug abuse education and prevention, as well as identification, counseling and treatment of drug abusers.

Considered by many to be the nation’s No. 1 problem, drug abuse has an enormous impact on the workplace.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Institute on Drug Abuse documented that employees who abuse drugs are:

• 2.5 times more likely to have absences of eight days or more.
• 3.6 times more likely to injure themselves or another person in a workplace accident.
• 5 times more likely to be involved in an accident off the job which, in turn, affects attendance or performance on the job.
• 5 time more likely to file a workers’ compensation claim.
• one-third less productive.

The objectives for Corporate Initiatives were straightforward:

• To motivate industry to take action in accepting and dealing with illicit drug abuse as a critical workplace problem.
• To benefit from the positive experiences of other corporations that have developed fair and reasonable drug abuse policies, and education, prevention and counseling programs.
• To work with Federal and state government officials to combine resources in addressing workplace drug abuse problems.

Approximately 300 senior corporate executives, public officials and media attended a national plenary conference in Washington, D.C, to launch the program.  The national conference was followed by a series of regional conferences — for 15 Western states in San Francisco, for 11 Central states in Chicago, for 10 Southern states in Atlanta, and for 13 Northeastern states in New York.  PCI worked with HLR to manage the logistics and roll-out of the program and to create its materials.

Campaign elements included:

• A comprehensive 250-page workbook with step-by-step guidelines on developing and enhancing workplace substance abuse programs.
• A newsletter, Drug Free Workplace Initiatives, circulated to 30,000 private- and public-sector leaders several times a year. A cover story featuring quotes from President George Bush led one of the issues.
• A manual of sample corporate substance abuse policies contributed by companies from across the country.
• Solicitation of more than $170,000 from industry to further the mission of The Partnership For a Drug-Free America, a private-sector coalition of advertising and media executives seeking to eliminate the demand for illicit drugs by reshaping and “denormalizing” attitudes about illegal drug use.
• A Corporate Initiatives-funded research study, Effects of the Use of Illicit Drugs in the Workplace, providing companies with the first document to review and summarize research on the use and effects of illicit drugs in the workplace, including a comprehensive bibliography of current research.

Campaign achievements were measured and documented:

• Corporate Participation.  More than 1,000 companies participated in the program.  Through evaluation forms, most companies indicated they had either begun a workplace drug abuse program or altered an existing program based on the information they learned through Corporate Initiatives.
• Reduction of the Problem.  A survey of 102 companies participating in Corporate Initiatives, conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, identified the percentage of companies with the following achievements: employees voluntarily seeking help to deal with substance abuse (49%), fewer job applicants testing positive for drugs (43%), an overall higher caliber of job applicants (25%), managers better able to handle drug abuse situations (29%), reduced absenteeism (21%), fewer drug-related accidents (17%), and greater productivity (14%).

• Federal and State Legislation.  Representatives of Corporate Initiatives worked with members of Congress on workplace aspects of anti-drug legislation.  Hoffmann-La Roche’s CEO was part of the White House ceremony when the landmark anti-drug act was signed into law.

• Professional Recognition.  A President’s Citation for Private-Sector Initiatives — the prestigious “C-Flag” award — was presented to Corporate Initiatives for exemplary community involvement.

Corporate Initiatives moved industry substantially closer to the goal of a drug free workplace.

Corporate Initiatives for a Drug Free Workplace won two public relations awards:

• Golden Trumpet, Publicity Club of Chicago.
• Edwin J. Shaughnessy Quality of Life Award, Publicity Club of Chicago.