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OPA News Release: [10/12/2004]
Contact Name:
Ed Frank or Eryn Witcher
Phone Number: 202-693-4676
U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Signs Drug-Free Workplace Alliance Agreement With Four International Labor Unions
WASHINGTONU.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao today
signed an Alliance agreement with the leaders of four international labor
unions in a cooperative effort to improve worker health and safety by
encouraging alcoholand drug-free workplaces and mines.
Secretary Chao signed the agreement at the Labor Department with Frank
Hanley of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Doug McCarron
of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Joseph
J. Hunt of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental,
and Reinforcing Iron Workers, and Newton B. Jones of the International
Brotherhood of Boilermakers.
“Today the U.S. Department of Labor and four of the nation's largest
labor unions signed a ground-breaking agreement to protect workers' health
and safety,” said U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “Through this agreement,
we are pledging to work together to reduce the serious hazards posed by
substance abuse at work. By working cooperatively on this problem, we
can improve the safety of America's workplaces and mines.”
The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Working Partners
for an Alcoholand Drug-Free Workplace Program will work with the four
international unions to provide union members and the construction industry
with information, guidance and training resources that will communicate
the benefits of drug-free workplace programs and better protect workers'
health and safety. The organizations will focus especially on educating
workers on safety hazards created by the abuse of alcohol and other drugs
in workplaces and mines.
The groups will work cooperatively on a number of fronts to encourage
drug-free workplaces:
- Training and education efforts to develop programs regarding
workplace substance abuse;
- Outreach and communications efforts through
print and electronic media;
- Information-sharing efforts to communicate
best practices among the organizations; and
- Convening or participating
in forums and roundtable discussions to raise the issues associated
with the abuse of alcohol and other drugs to help forge innovative
solutions.
The 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 77 percent
of the nation's adults who have alcohol or drug abuse or dependence problems
are employed either full- or part-time. In addition, a 1998 Bureau of
Labor Statistics analysis showed that as many as 20 percent of toxicology
screens following workplace fatalities tested positive for drugs and/or
alcohol.
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