Rebuild A (Drug-Free) Workplace After COVID
Psychemedics is your best hedge against setbacks to workplace drug deterrence.
DOWNLOAD OUR FREE E-BOOK
Rebuilding A Workplace After COVID-19
When a pandemic and epidemic collide, we risk forgetting one for the other.
In our three-part (part 1, 2, & 3) series, “Rebuilding A Workplace After COVID-19” we examined the impacts that trauma, stress, and isolation have on people who abuse substances or might self-medicate to relieve the anxieties of the past few months. In nearly every study, stress and changes of routine during natural or manmade disasters are seen as root causes for elevated consumption of nicotine, alcohol, or chemical substances. And most troubling is that post-event, although routines might return to normal, the elevated consumption did not subside.
The COVID-19 pandemic has struck at a time when we are already in the midst of an epidemic—of substance abuse. And unlike other disasters of recent history, day-to-day routines after this pandemic crests will likely not return to those that are familiar. There is every reason to believe that, without diligence, losing ground in a drive to the Drug-Free workplace is a risk.
Numbers Don't Lie.
Substance abuse is still a lingering and devastating national epidemic.
Since the new millennium, deaths by drug overdose have been our epidemic. In fact, today it is the leading cause of death for people under age 50. Those are the people who make up much of the labor pool on which we all will draw as we restart business and rehire or return workers to our workplaces. Sadly, some of those will return with new or exacerbated chemical dependencies. The “feel better” drugs that make up psychostimulants were already on an uptick and surpassed opioids and we believe they will continue their upward trajectory.
Rebuilding A Workplace After COVID-19
Things to think about as you restart your post-COVID workplace.
Before COVID-19, with a 3.5% unemployment rate, the labor pool was tight. Help was hard to find. The harsh reality is that today’s 15% rate changes everything. If there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel it is that when you restart, rehire and restaff there are 36M in today’s labor pool to choose from versus the 8.6M in January. You can be more choosy than before. Choose drug-free.
If history has taught us anything it is that in times of high stress, substance use or abuse increases. And with that comes increased operational and financial risks that many businesses simply cannot afford as they restart. The good news is that those risks can be managed with the right oversight. Learn more about the what and when of workplace drug testing here.
Time after time Health and Wellness, Drug Program Administrators and Operations executives tell us that they want to discourage drug usage rather than catch drug users. When potential applicants or current employees are certain that drug use will be detected one of three things happens. They don’t apply (and waste your time recruiting dollars), change jobs or change behaviors. Find out how the science Deters Usage through Certainty of Detection.
Best practices from others. See our case studies.
In workplaces and on campuses, Psychemedics is being used to reduce recruiting costs by discouraging drug users from applying or quickly screening out those who would not be hired anyway. We have collected a wealth of best practices from these companies and schools. Read some of our case studies.
Can you spot the three people in this crowd who don’t know they were exposed to fentanyl?
Psychemedics can.
Protect your workplace. Save a life.
The Psychemedics Advantage
Your objective is a drug-free workplace.
Your challenge is to Detect and Deter every drug user.
Unrivaled Detection. Unmatched Deterrence.
That is the Psychemedics Advantage.
Drug News You Can Use
Sign up for our quarterly newsletter to stay up-to-date with snapshots of usage statistics, information on the latest trends, and updates on detection science.