“A recovery-supportive workplace (RSW) aims to prevent exposure to workplace factors that could cause or perpetuate a substance use disorder while lowering barriers to seeking care, receiving care, and maintaining recovery. A recovery-supportive workplace educates its management team and workers on issues surrounding substance use disorders to reduce the all-too-common stigma around this challenge.”
– The U.S. Centers for Disease Control National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The purpose of this tool is to support you to:
- learn more about how recovery-supportive your workplace is,
- identify resources you can use to help create a more recovery-supportive workplace, and
- consider at least one next step you can take to make your workplace more supportive of workers in recovery.
This tool can be used by anyone interested in making their workplace more supportive of workers who are in recovery or have issues with their substance use. We developed this tool for a wide range of workplaces with a focus on industries where workers are at a higher risk for injury at work.
The tool assesses each of the following focus areas by identifying RSW) policies and practices that support workers throughout their lifecycle or journey at their workplace:
- Recruitment and Hiring: includes who is hired, the process for selecting qualified candidates, and onboarding.
- Education and Training: includes organization-wide training as a foundation for successful implementation of RSW policies and practices and periodically as a refresher or update for workers to support stigma reduction efforts and create a safer workplace.
- Worker Experience and Retention: includes how workers experience their physical and social environments, including work relationships and general wellbeing. Workplace culture can serve as a facilitator or barrier to efforts to become a more recovery supportive workplace.
- Welcoming and Inclusive Workplace
- Healthy and Safe Workplace