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ETA News Release: [09/22/2006]
Contact Name: Melinda Thielen or Mike Volpe
Phone Number: (202) 693-4676 or x3984
Release Number: 06-1653-NAT

U.S. Secretary of Labor Announces Drug-Free Work Week

Week of October 16-22

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced today that October 16-22, 2006 will be Drug-Free Work Week. The purpose of Drug-Free Work Week is to educate employers, employees and the general public about the importance of being drug-free as a component of improving workplace safety and health. The campaign will be a collaborative effort between the Department of Labor and members of its Drug-Free Workplace Alliance; however, all employers and employees are encouraged to participate.

"Drug-free workplace programs advance worker safety and can be a life-changing resource for workers who have drug or alcohol problems," said Secretary Chao. "Members of the Department's Drug-Free Workplace Alliances understand this and during Drug-Free Work Week will be promoting effective programs focused on detection, deterrence and assistance for workers who need it."

Through Drug-Free Work Week, the department and alliance members will conduct various activities to help employers, supervisors and workers understand how to implement effective drug-free workplace programs that focus on detection and deterrence while also offering assistance and support for workers who may have problems with alcohol or drugs.

The Drug-Free Workplace Alliance is the Labor Department's first-ever cooperative agreement focusing exclusively on improving worker safety and health in the construction industry through drug-free workplace programs. Led by Working Partners and managed cooperatively with the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Mine Safety and Health Administration, the alliance brings together a range of industry stakeholders to identify effective strategies for improving safety and health through prevention and intervention. It was established in October 2004 with four labor unions and then expanded in July 2006 to include four additional unions and five construction contractor/owner associations.

The Department of Labor established the alliance because research shows that construction, along with mining, tops the list of industries whose workers report the highest rates of alcohol and other drug abuse. However, no industry is immune to the hazards alcohol and drug abuse can cause. Employers and employees in all industries can learn more about how they can participate in Drug-Free Work Week and ways they can promote drug-free workplace messages — during the campaign and throughout the year — by visiting the department's Working Partners Web site at www.dol.gov/workingpartners.