An Analysis of Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs

   

3.1 Distribution of Current Illicit Drug and Heavy Alcohol Use by Establishment Size

Figure 3.1 presents the 1994 distribution of the full-time workforce, for workers age 18-49, by the three establishment size categories. About 39 percent of respondents reported working at a location with fewer than 25 employees; 43 percent worked at locations with 25-499 employees; and 18 percent of workers were employed at the largest establishments. The distribution in estimated numbers of workers was approximately 30 million, 33 million, and 14 million, respectively. 

Figure 3.2 provides estimates of rates of current illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use by establishment size. Overall, 7.6 percent of full-time workers reported current illicit drug use. Workers in the smallest establishment size category reported significantly higher rates of current illicit drug use—11.0 percent—than workers in the two larger employment categories, both of which reported rates of 5.4 percent. Given the underlying distribution of employment by establishment size noted in Figure 3.1, the higher rate of current illicit drug use by employees in the smaller establishments means that for the workforce as a whole, the majority of current illicit drug users—56.6 percent—worked at locations with fewer than 25 employees; 30.2 percent of currentillicit drug users worked at locations with 25-499 employees, and 13.2 percent worked at locations with 500 or more employees. 

A little over eight percent of workers reported heavy alcohol use in the past month. The rate of heavy alcohol use varied inversely with establishment size—9.6 percent, 7.9 percent, and 7.3 percent, respectively, for the three categories—but these differences were not statistically significant; thus heavy alcohol use and establishment size were uncorrelated. For the overall workforce, 44.1 percent of heavy alcohol users were employed in establishments that had fewer than 25 employees; 40 percent were employed in establishments with 25-499 employees, and 15.9 percent were employed in establishments with 500 or more employees. 

There are many reasons, beyond the scope of the NHSDA, that could help explain why current illicit drug use is associated with establishment size. The number of employees may affect the kind of interactions that occur within an establishment which, in turn, may be associated with the ease of covert substance use. In addition, the rate of current illicit drug and heavy alcohol use may simply reflect the types of companies, or the average size of companies in particular industries, and the demographic characteristics of the workers employed by them. For example, in Chapter 2 the rate of illicit drug and heavy alcohol use is displayed by several demographic characteristics. As illustrated there, drug and alcohol use are associated with gender, age, and income. And as shown in Chapter 4, current illicit drug and heavy alcohol use vary by occupation. Thus an industry or occupation that draws disproportionate 

Figure 3.1Distribution of the Full-Time Workforce, Age 18-49, by Establishment Size, 1994 (Estimated Number = 77,842,000)

   

This page was last updated on June 03, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.