Drug Use,Workplace Accidents and Employee Turnover

Abstract

A number of studies presume that illicit drug use and heavy alcohol use increase the risk of work-related accidents and employee turnover. The results of these studies are inconsistent, however, with several reporting a significant association between employee drug use and accidents, and others finding no association. A more consistent result is that drug use is associated with employee turnover, especially an increased risk of termination and resignation. A significant limitation is that most of this research has relied on regional or industry-specific samples. Thus, whether their results generalize to the U.S. workforce is unknown. Using data from a large, representative sample of the U.S. population, we provide a detailed analysis of the relationships among drug use, work-related accidents, and employee turnover. The results indicate that various measures of drug use are not associated with work-related accidents. However, several types of drug use are related to the risk of being fired or resigning from a job in the previous year. Moreover, the risk of being fired varies by occupation.