The U.S. Department of Labor’s Working Partners Web site has a valuable new resource for employers working to ensure their workplaces are drug free:  data on the rates of substance abuse broken down by industry and occupation. 

Research indicates that some industries have higher rates of substance abuse among workers than others.  Industry and occupational data can help employers learn more about how substance abuse may impact their workforce and what types of policies and programs may be most appropriate for their organization.  This data also can be extremely useful for employers to be watchful for specific types of substance abuse since the rates of heavy alcohol and illicit drug use, dependence and abuse vary across industries and occupation.  Employers also can learn the rates of pre-employment and random testing for alcohol or drug use by industry and occupation. 

All data are presented through easy-to-read charts and graphs.  When interpreting the data, it is important to note that “industry” refers to all people employed by a particular industry, regardless of whether their job entails tasks unique to that industry, while “occupation” refers to a specific individual’s job responsibilities.  For example, a person who performs financial services for a construction services company would fall under the construction industry and financial occupational categories.

The data, which represent the latest available, are sourced from Worker Substance Use and Workplace Policies and Programs, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in 2007 for the years 2002-2004 combined.