Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features a bit from the broader employee health arena, with the National Safety Council’s highlighting of recent results from The Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s annual survey results, which found that one in four adults in the U.S. had a mental illness in 2021, and more than 16% of the country’s population, or more than 46 million people, met the criteria for a substance use disorder.
According to the National Safety Council’s own data, almost 9% of working adults nationwide have a substance use disorder. The NSC highlighted several of its available resources for establishing policies that support worker mental health and substance use treatment, and noted that it continues to call on employers to develop recovery-friendly workplaces, establish policies that support worker mental health and substance use recovery, end addiction stigma, and provide necessary resources the workers in our country need.