NEWS

Substance Abuse and Strategies to Mitigate Risk

Substance abuse in the workplace is a widespread problem crossing cultural and socio economic boundaries and is often an ignored problem by many organisations. Substance abuse has negative effects on many areas of an organisation's work productivity, employee performance, and customer service.

An employee suffering from a substance addiction not only puts themselves at risk but also the safety of their team and the general public. For this reason substance abuse problems should not be ignored by organisations.

Abusers can be about a third less productive than non abusers and are about 2.5 times more likely to be absent; this amounts to 8 more sick days a year. Abusers are 3 to 5 times more likely to claim compensation than non abusers. This is a significant increase in an organisation's risk profile.

Employee Assistance programs are designed to assist organisations manage risk of this nature. Unlike medical assistance, EAPs are aligned with your company mission and organisational policies. One of the great benefits of an EAP is that it is always available to the employee to take up at any time. EAPs are also a proactive and an indirect way for managers to deal with complicated problems such as substance abuse. The employee has the opportunity to confront the problem via an external source and this requires less internal resources to manage the problem.

NEWS

Teen Sports Injuries - A Silent Epidemic

Teenagers that play various sports teams and participate in sporting activities all year round are likely to suffer from serious injuries due to overuse. Such injuries include dislocated shoulders, and torn ligaments, injuries usually experienced by adults. The head, neck and knees are the three areas that are open to greater risk with back to back sporting schedules.

Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Connecticut, Dr Thomas DeBerardino, calls this a “silent epidemic”. “It comes down to being overscheduled”, Dr DeBerardino says. “Each kid and body is different,” he said. “Everyone has a different thresh point. You get an injury if you’re over-fatigued, you’re doing too much and you don’t have enough of a recovery period."

Each parent and person responsible for the kid needs to pay attention. You don’t have to examine the kid. Ask them if they feel overwhelmed, over-challenged. When you need a break, you need a break.” His advice to teen athletes is simple: Learn to listen to your body.