Coping with Drugs

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But as at Warner, there has been an undercurrent of indignation. "Some of the younger guys resent it," says Hollis Williams, a 34-year-old pipe fitter. "They think their personal life should be their own business. But if you have nothing to hide, it's no problem. If you are going to have any kind of decent job these days, you're going to have to go through drug testing here or someplace else. To tell you the truth, I'm all for it. We have guys driving propane trucks and looking for gas leaks -- that's sensitive work."

In quantifying results, Sawyer says that the company's accident rate has declined dramatically in both numbers and severity since 1986, when the program began. Workers' comp claims have declined, saving the company approximately $75,000 annually in insurance costs. And absenteeism has declined by 64% over the same period.

"This program costs me peanuts," says Sawyer. "Last year I spent $1,500 on drug testing. The only other cost is the time the employees spend in class. It's not an expense as much as an investment. And it's the most positive thing our company has ever done."

The Company Sawyer Gas Co., Jacksonville, Fla.; a 30-year-old propane supplier with revenues of $12 million and 160 employees

The Program Instituted in 1980; based on an ongoing drug-education program aimed not only at the company but also at the community.It is supplemented by systematic, companywide drug testing by urinalysis.

The Cost $1,500 per year on testing, plus $1,200 per year in time employees spend in classes

The Return An estimated $75,000 per year in insurance premiums, plus dramatic decreases in accidents and absenteeism

* * * * *

While Tom Warner tests for drugs and Charles Sawyer tests and educates, Oregon Steel Mills Inc. (OSM) does all that and more. Its philosophy is that drug abuse is a disease best dealt with through rehabilitation. OSM is a minimill in Portland, Ore., that makes steel plate and line pipe and had 1990 sales of $153 million. Despite the company's size, its program has served as a model for smaller enterprises throughout Oregon.

In 1980 millwright Chuck Croghan became alarmed by the erratic behavior of a few of the plant's crane operators, who were handling 55-ton loads. "This stuff was swinging right over our heads," Croghan says. "We depended on those people to follow directions closely, but they were just real flighty and didn't observe procedures. They weren't drunks -- we could have told that. We figured they had to be on drugs, and we were afraid they'd kill somebody."

When he found out about the strange behavior, Jack Longbine, the employee-resources director, acted on it immediately. But the company was unionized, and edicts coming down from on high usually did not sit well. "A strictly management-directed program would have been suicide because it would have created an adversarial feeling," says Longbine. "I felt the way to emphasize that it was everyone's problem, not just management's or employees', was to involve everyone from day one." So Longbine got permission from OSM's executive board to form a 12-member employee-assistance committee, with union-elected workers holding most of the positions.

Longbine thinks that is the single most important factor in the program's success. "It was an unusual approach to take," he says. "This committee is like Congress. The employee representatives set policy on drugs and alcohol. Management can veto any of their ideas but cannot implement anything that they do not recommend. That was quite a bit of power to give them, but it sent a message that we were doing something together to solve the problem."

In its first action, the committee recommended that drug addiction be recognized as an illness. It wanted to hold people accountable for their actions but also give them a chance to correct them through treatment. No employee, except under certain circumstances, such as theft, should be fired without getting a chance at rehabilitation. Confidentiality should be of utmost importance. The committee also urged a major drug-education program, requiring every employee to receive at least two hours of training. Those ideas formed the foundation of company policy.

Initial resistance came from old-timers who didn't like the idea of giving someone a second chance. But that was nothing compared with the flack that Longbine took when he insisted that managers get a second chance, too. As he recalls, "We had officers saying, 'Look, when you make someone a manager, you've placed a special trust. If they go out and get involved in drugs, they've violated that trust. That's worse than the guy on the floor doing it.' "

But Longbine stuck to his guns. "I told them they'd be ignoring the fact that drug addiction is a disease," he says, "that people are affected based on their biochemistry." Even so, it wasn't until he brought in a physician who was a recovering drug abuser to speak to upper management that Longbine's views prevailed.

OSM has tested only three categories of people -- all new hires, anyone who comes under "probable suspicion," and anyone already on probation. The second-chance policy definitely has strings attached. Workers whose urinalyses test positive for drugs are offered one of three options: immediate discharge, the opportunity to fight the findings through a conflict-management board, or the opportunity to sign a last-chance work agreement, which places them on two-year probation and subjects them to random testing. They are sent to a counselor, who selects a mandatory treatment program. It may be residential, during which employees receive full pay just as they would for any other illness, or it may be outpatient treatment after work. The third part of the contract calls for maintaining good work performance. Failure to meet any one of those requirements is grounds for dismissal.

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