Llaurant la Llum: how to prevent addictions in the workplace

Let's see, from the hand of experts, what an addiction prevention program for companies is like.

Addictions do not arise out of nowhere; there are many contextual aspects that favor their appearance, even without the addicted person being aware of it. Beyond the chemical reactions that occur in the nervous system when performing the act that satisfies the immediate need to consume, the environment exerts a very important influence both in the development of the addiction and in its maintenance.

In this sense, there are currently entities that offer services for the prevention of addictive behaviors in the world of organizations, given that we spend a lot of time at work and what we are exposed to at work affects the possibility of developing this kind of problem.

In this case we talk to an expert in this field of intervention: Silvia Ros Verdeguer, Director of the addiction treatment center Llaurant la Llum, located in Valencia, Spain.located in Valencia.

Workplace prevention of addictions: interview with Llaurant la Llum.

Silvia Ros Verdeguer is Director of Llaurant la Llum, specialist in labor prevention and graduated in Social Education, with a Master in Prevention and Intervention of addictive behaviors. Here she talks about the way in which a specialized organization like Llaurant la Llum works in the field of addiction prevention within the business context..

How does a center like Llaurant la Llum intervene in companies through an addiction prevention program?

Llaurant la Llum has more than 30 years of experience in the treatment of addictions, and for more than 20 years it has been providing services to different companies in the treatment of workers with an addictive disorder. Throughout this time of collaboration, we have detected the need of some companies to act in the field of addiction prevention.

Within the framework of the law on prevention of occupational hazards, Llaurant la Llum presents an addiction plan adapted to the reality of each company. The objective is to address in a direct and transversal way, the prevention of addictions in the company of those behaviors that can lead to an addictive disorder.

Do we tend to underestimate the main positive aspects that addiction prevention brings to the organization, assuming that addictive disorders are problems of each individual?

Without a doubt. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the advantages for companies that undertake the development of prevention programs are very beneficial: reduction of sick leave periods, reduction of absenteeism, reduction of accidents at work, increase in productivity, improvement of the social climate...

Studies have shown a correlation between work activity and addictions. In the work environment there are certain conditions that can favor the acquisition or maintenance of addictive behaviors.

However, we must not forget that these specific risk factors of the work context act in interaction with others, such as individual and social risk factors, therefore, it is not just a problem of each individual.

Is it difficult to modify the work culture of a company to make it more resistant to the emergence of addictions?

Our experience tells us that it is important for companies to have a culture of prevention, and for this to happen all levels of the company must be involved: prevention services, human resources, trade unions and works council.

A consensus must be reached on how the analysis of the company's situation will be carried out, what the prevention program will consist of, how the support plan will be presented to the employee with addictive behavior and, finally, how the whole process will be evaluated.

Knowing and being aware that the company has an Addictions Plan that works on prevention causes the employee to increase the perception of risk. This avoids the normalization of addictive behaviors associated with work, such as the consumption of tobacco, alcohol or cannabis.

What kind of harmful organizational dynamics can lead to the development of addictions among workers?

There are certain risk factors that favor addictions. These factors are related to the organization of work, to the workplace and to the work environment. In addition, in recent years, psychosocial risk factors, which, in our view, are closely related to addictive behaviors, have been gaining prominence.

Some of these psychosocial factors have to do with working time, autonomy, workload, psychological demands, role performance, relationships... These psychosocial risks are translated into situations of stress, fatigue, conflicts, harassment...

Workplace prevention is the appropriate tool to develop a set of strategies in the workplace aimed at promoting health, minimizing risk factors and enhancing protective factors. The ultimate goal is to prevent the development of addictive behavior, in addition to improving and strengthening the social support networks that exist within the company.

How long have Spanish companies been incorporating addiction prevention into their social responsibility policies? Is this a consolidated trend?

The World Health Organization highlights the healthy company model (WHO, 2008), which urges companies and employers to adopt measures to prevent the consumption of alcohol and other drugs, taking into account the physical and psychosocial environment, as well as personal health and community resources.

In addition, the spread of the concept of "corporate social responsibility" (CSR) is helping more and more companies to voluntarily implement strategies and practices aimed at improving workers' health and safety.

We still have a long way to go. We have to normalize the fact that addictions are present in the workplace and provide a response within the framework of the company's social policy, avoiding old clichés that range from sanctions to misunderstood paternalism.

In the companies in which we provide assistance services, we have been integrating prevention plans for years, but we do not see that this is a trend in other areas and other companies.

How are cases of workers with addictive behavior problems identified and what procedures are followed in the companies in which you collaborate?

One of the objectives of the addiction prevention we work on is the early detection of vulnerable cases and the identification of cases of workers who present a consumption, but have not developed a dependency. Through a series of tools agreed with the medical service, the company and the workers, we can identify these cases and offer the appropriate treatment to avoid the evolution to the next stages.

Sometimes we find workers who do present an abuse or dependence. In these situations, Llaurant La Llum addresses the problem in a comprehensive manner, providing the worker with the appropriate treatment, monitoring and referral to the most appropriate resource and planning the return to work and subsequent monitoring and full reintegration.

In short, our job is to advise and manage this entire process, forming part, as an external resource, of the company's prevention service.

What is missing for companies to definitively adapt to this need to ensure the welfare of its members?

In order to implement an addiction plan and for it to be successful, the health and safety committee and the works council must be willing to do so. All levels must make this support tool their own and agree on the limits of intervention.

The Employee Assistance Plan (PAE) is a set of planned actions aimed at treating and supporting all those cases susceptible to intervention, by means of an assessment, treatment follow-up and subsequent return to work. The EAP must meet the requirements of voluntariness, confidentiality, individualization and flexibility, for all employees of the company and with the support of external organizations to carry out the treatment (public or private).

When the prevention service offers a worker with addictive disorders the possibility of joining the Employee Assistance Plan, it is giving him/her the opportunity to redirect his/her life. Many times where the family does not reach... the work does. And the worker's response is to thank the company for its support.