The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Area employees learn ins and outs of addiction
Area employers learn about opioid/opiate addiction, how to deal with it
Area employers learn about opioid/opiate addiction, in a workshop held at Lakeland’s Holden Center.
Dozens of area employers, policy-makers, community stakeholders and others on the front lines of the opiate/opioid addiction epidemic in Northeast Ohio met at a workshop May 23 hosted at Lakeland Community College’s Holden University Center in Kirtland.
Organized by the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Lakeland Community College, the workshop — titled “Opioid Crisis in the Workplace: The Proactive Role Employers Can Take” — provided a robust overview of not only the scope of opiaterelated addiction and the issues and problems it carries for area workplaces. It also illuminated the many resources available throughout Northeast Ohio to educate, address and mitigate them.
The topics presented were:
• What are opioids? Why are they being abused and how someone becomes addicted.
• What is the status of the opioid epidemic, both locally and nationally, and its impact on our workforce?
• How to identify people who may be at risk for addiction by understanding the warning signs.
• Increasing communication and training for managers and employees to raise awareness of the issue.
• Conditions protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, legal implications associated with employees who may be under the influence of opioids, avoiding lawsuits and other legal concerns.
• Employee assistance programs, drug testing programs, training sessions for supervisors/employees, second-chance programs and other resources for help and treatment.
• How to decrease accidents, workers’ compensation claims and receive insurance discounts.
Numerous attendees validated the workshop after having participated.
Take Mentor Prosecutor Lisa Klammer, for example. She said the event provided valuable information for employers looking to take a proactive role in mitigating the opioid epidemic, which is now virtually everyone’s problem.
“This is a community epidemic and we can’t rely solely on lawmakers, police departments and hospitals to resolve the problem,” Klammer said, adding that the May 23 event highlighted lots of tools area employers and others can use to help address the issue.
“This seminar gave employers valuable resources to keep their business environments safe and to identify and help employees with addiction problems. This seminar was a prime example of the steps the community needs to take to combat this epidemic.”
Susan Lauer, a Willoughby resident who works part-time in the Domestic Relations Division of Lake County Common Pleas Court, concurred with Klammer, saying that the workshop provided some valuable tools about which many professionals affected by the opioid crisis may have otherwise been unaware.
“I think it was excellent,” she said. “And I think it’s so great that they’re getting the word out to everyone about all the resources available to help address these issues.”
For example, Lauer said, she thought the fact that the Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board offers workplace programs for businesses of all shapes, sizes and specialties was a valuable piece of information she learned May 23.
Another area professional — Assistant Lake County Prosecutor Pat Condon — said he thought the workshop was worthwhile and would recommend it to anyone.
“I thought it was fantastic,” Condon said. “It brought in people from different
businesses and from different areas of expertise to help tackle what is probably Lake County’s most pressing problem.”
Condon also said it was an enlightening experience because the workshop introduced a variety of opioid-addiction tools he never knew existed.
“I was unaware of all the services available to Lake County residents and businesses,” he said. “And having all the experts here — the medical doctor and other specialists — putting (the problem) into perspective from their points of view and talking about what’s really happening out there — was really educational.”
After all was said and done at the workshop May 23, one of its organizers said it was a success.
“Feedback was all positive’” writes Ohio SBDC Director Catherine Walsh in an e-mail exchange following the workshop. “Attendees appreciated the differences in what each speaker brought to the panel.”
She added that the folks who stayed past noon — which is when the workshop was scheduled to end — spoke volumes.
“I think the amount of attendees who stayed after to ask additional questions of the panel was proof of the level of knowledge the panel brought,” Walsh writes.
She added that feedback comments included accolades like: “This was awesome;” “What an incredible event!”; “Thank you so much” and “This was great.”
“We at Lakeland’s SBDC were incredibly happy with the crowd and the information that was shared today,” Walsh’s email reads. “Our business community needs to understand the epidemic we are facing and the various high-quality Lake County resources that can help them and their employees. Education is the key to us solving this crisis in our community and nation.”
Walsh added that the video of the workshop will soon be available on Lakeland’s YouTube channel.