Background: PeerCare, developed in 1988, trains employees in substance abuse intervention to enhance early treatment seeking for drug and alcohol problems. This labor-sponsored program diverts workers from disciplinary channels directly into treatment programs, while promising anonymity. One PeerCare goal is to improve worker safety. Aim: To examine the impact of PeerCare and random drug testing on workplace injury. Methods: Using monthly reported injury counts for the 20,000+ employee study company from 1/85 to 8/99, this retrospective analysis uses interrupted time-series analysis to determine if monthly injury rates changed significantly after the intervention. We controlled for autocorrelation between observations using auto regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling. Monthly injury counts were modeled using a time-varying measure of intervention activity (cumulative percentage of employees trained as peer interveners), while controlling for the number of employee hours worked, the number of transport-miles, and the implementation of random drug and alcohol testing. Results: Monthly injuries were inversely correlated to the cumulative percentage of peer counselors trained by PeerCare. For every 1% increase of the workforce trained, one injury was prevented per month (p=0.042). Though the statistical significance of the effect or random drug testing was less significant (p=0.112), the magnitude of the coefficient suggests that the implementation of random drug testing prevented 15 injuries per month. We are running further analyses by work unit. Conclusions: These results suggest that the PeerCare program reduces workplace injury.
Learning Objectives: Describe the PeerCare intervention and the theory behind the design. Explain the reasons integrated time series analysis is frequently used in policy and program evaluation Quantify the impact of the intervention based on the study results
Keywords: Substance Abuse Prevention, Evaluation
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: CSAP Workplace Managed Care Grant #1 U1K SP08096-02
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.