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Appeared in Spring 2005 issue of EAP Digest magazine published by Performance Resource Press
By Elena Carr and Dr. Don Wright
By helping employees identify and resolve personal problems, Employee Assistance (EA)
professionals play an important, but often overlooked role in improving workplace safety and health.
Taking steps to increase understanding of this valuable dimension of their work presents an opening
through which Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) can expand their organizational influence.
Although some workplaces and occupations are inherently more dangerous than others, safety hazards
exist in virtually every workplace. To minimize risk, employees and management must work together to
identify potential problems and be vigilant about following proper safety procedures. In addition,
to work safely employees cannot be impaired by lack of rest or distractions caused by personal concerns
such as family problems or drug or alcohol abuse. Thus, the goals of safety and health and those of
EAPs can intersect.
Just as in non-workplace situations, workplace safety and health hazards are caused by a variety of
factors, some environmental and some behavioral. Environmental hazards are the result of factors beyond
employees' control, while behavioral hazards are caused by individuals' actions that may stem from lack
of knowledge about proper safety procedures of decisions based on poor judgment. EA professionals can
strengthen their role in improving safety and health by proactively reaching out to their companies'
occupational safety and health specialists to ensure that they understand the role EAPs can play in
diffusing those workplace hazards that are more behavioral in nature. In doing so, they can also
help facilitate a shift in how EAPs are perceived within organizations, augmenting their traditional
position as solely an employee benefit or human resources function and reinforcing their value to
employers as well as to employees.
To leverage this opportunity, EAPs must first be familiar with the field of workplace safety and
health and its function within their companies. Generally, companies' occupational safety and
health specialists are charged with preventing harm to workers, property and the environment, as well
as to members of the public who could be impacted by the companies' daily operations. Their
specific responsibilities may vary by industry, workplace and types of hazards affecting employees;
however, all strive to reduce occupational injuries and illnesses by continually seeking safer,
healthier and more efficient ways of working.
A large part of the job for safety and health specialists is ensuring compliance with regulations
set and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency of the U.S.
Department of Labor (DOL). OSHA’s role is to assure the health and safety of America's workers.
In addition to setting and enforcing standards, OSHA provides training, outreach and education;
establishes partnerships; and encourages continual improvement in workplace safety and health.
Most working men and women in the nation come under OSHA's jurisdiction.
Although OSHA regulations guide a significant portion of safety and health specialists' daily activities,
ultimately they are interested in any strategies that help to improve workplace safety and health.
This is where EAPs have the opportunity-and responsibility-to step up to the plate.
For example, because drug and alcohol use can significantly impair workers' judgment and
coordination, EAPs can help improve workplace safety and health by providing drug-free workplace services.
Clearly, a safe and healthy workplace is a drug-free workplace, one in which all employees understand
that in order to work they must be drug free, and that for those who are unable to do so on their own
because they are drug dependent, there is help. EAPs that provide drug-free workplace services are
critical to helping employees stay safe and healthy because they educate employees about the dangers
of drug abuse and provide referral services for employees with substance abuse problems. They also
train supervisors on how to recognize signs and symptoms of impairment and how to intervene appropriately
when employee performance deteriorates and safety is jeopardized.
Consider a situation in which a supervisor has concerns about the safety performance of a particular
employee. Perhaps the employee has been inattentive to safety guidelines and not demonstrating good
judgment-possible signs or symptoms of substance abuse or other personal problems. There are various
options for how the supervisor might intervene, and EAPs should be a resource to help supervisors
ascertain the best approach. One option might be to make a determination to refer the employee to
drug testing based on a reasonable suspicion; another is disciplinary action. But what if the employee's
behavior does not rise to the level of reasonable suspicion or disciplinary action? Another strategy
could be for the supervisor to refer the employee to the EAP for performance problems that are creating
safety and health hazards. The EAP may be able to work with the employee to identify and address the
underlying issues causing their carelessness.
Also, it is not uncommon for employees to seek assistance from EAPs on their own to deal with
on-the-job stressors, such as conflicts with fellow employees or supervisors, and in doing so they
may sometimes divulge perceived failures to follow safety procedures or fears for their personal
safety in the workplace. As a result, EA professionals may be in a unique position to learn of
possible safety problems and bring them to the attention of management; however, they must, of
course, only do so when they can ensure that the confidential nature of the disclosure will not be compromised.
Help from DOL
Drawing upon this example, EAPs looking to sharpen their drug-free workplace services might benefit
from DOL's Working Partners for an Alcohol- and Drug-Free Workplace website. Located at
www.dol.gov/workingpartners, this site is a central
source of information about workplace drug and alcohol issues and strategies for addressing them.
For example, EAPs needing to develop a drug-free workplace policy for their company or client can
use the site's Drug-Free Workplace Advisor Program Builder. This tool's Policy Development section
outlines the key elements of a comprehensive drug-free workplace policy one by one, along the way
asking users to select answers to simple, pre-set questions about each element in order to create
the most appropriate policy for their particular company.
Questions range from "Who will be covered by your policy?" to "How will your policy be
communicated to employees?" to "Will your program include drug testing?" Depending on how
these questions are answered, further questions may be asked. For example, if a user indicates
that drug testing will be included, he or she is then introduced to and asked to choose among
different testing methods and other related issues. Based on the responses provided, the
system then generates a policy statement that EAPs can personalize and further modify if desired.
The questions presented by this tool provide an excellent guide for a consultation meeting with
management about their expectations for a drug-free workplace policy, allowing EAPs to then develop
a comprehensive, tailored policy quickly and easily.
Another Working Partners website feature, the Substance Abuse Information Database (SAID),
is an online repository of hundreds of documents related to workplace alcohol and drug abuse,
including sample policies, surveys, research reports, training and educational materials, and legal
and regulatory information. The site also has information about related state laws, community-based
organizations that may assist businesses in becoming drug free and available helplines that can
assist individuals who have alcohol or drug problems. Presentations, fact sheets and articles that
can be used for supervisor training and employee education purposes also are available.
To learn more about the field of occupational safety and health and the types of hazards,
both environmental and behavioral, that can endanger employees, EA professionals may want to visit OSHA's
website (www.osha.gov). Of particular interest may be the Small
Business page, designed to increase awareness among small business employers about their responsibilities
under OSHA regulations, as well as additional steps they can take—such as offering drug-free workplace
programs that include employee assistance—to protect their employees above and beyond the
requirements of the law.
In companies that offer EAP services but do not have a comprehensive safety plan or dedicated safety
and health officer, EAPs may be in a position to educate employers about the availability of resources
such as OSHA's onsite consultation program, a free service through which occupational safety and health
consultants work with employers to identify workplace hazards, provide advice on compliance with OSHA
standards and assist in establishing effective safety and health programs.
This program is targeted at small businesses and is completely separate from the OSHA inspection
effort; in fact, no citations are issued or penalties proposed. It is also confidential-a participating
company's name and any identifying information provided about its workplace, plus any unsafe or
unhealthful working conditions that the consultant uncovers, will not be reported to OSHA enforcement staff.
(However, it is important to note that using this service does not guarantee that a workplace will "pass"
a regularly scheduled OSHA inspection.)
Other OSHA resources that EAPs might want to inform their companies or clients about include
compliance assistance web-based tools, OSHA's toll-free help line (1-800-321-OSHA) and seminars
and workshops facilitated around the country by OSHA compliance assistance specialists. OSHA
also offers a Handbook for Small Businesses and other publications that EAPs may want to download
from OSHA's website or order in hard copy (by calling the number above) to provide their companies
or small business clients as a reference tool.
As EA professionals know, program advancement is an ongoing challenge, continually requiring
new and creative strategies to ensure that employers and supervisors are aware of EAP services and
recognize their critical importance in the organization's success. Accentuating the intersection
between EAPs and safe workplaces offers an additional avenue for getting the EAP message out and
expanding EAPs' organizational influence. Likewise, for safety and health professionals, EAP
services can be another tool in their toolbox of strategies for ensuring that their workplaces
are safe, healthy and productive.
Elena Carr is Drug Policy Coordinator and Director of the Working Partners for an
Alcohol- and Drug-Free Workplace program in DOL's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy.
Dr. Don Wright is the Director of OSHA's Office of Occupational Medicine.
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