Angela is a forty-five-year-old woman who is the director of the human resources department at a relatively large plastics molding company. In an attempt to cut the costs linked to worker alcohol abuse and alcoholism, employee absenteeism, work related injuries and accidents, poor job performance, and excessive employee sick days, Angela and the other company VIPs created and implemented numerous programs that made the work environment substantially more healthy, productive, and safe.

As an illustration of one of these “preventative maintenance” measures, nearly thirteen years ago Angela and the other company administrators launched an Employees Assistance Program so that all the workers in the company would have access to professional counseling and therapy for their personal problems that could unfavorably affect their work performance, safety, personal well being, and their health.

Another program that was initiated by Angela and the other members of upper management just over five-and-a-half years ago was a high-tech exercise and workout facility that was stocked with exercise charts, mirrors, weights, a professional trainer during usual work hours, a variety of exercise equipment, and scales.

Similarly, a little more that three years ago Angela and the other top administrators purchased a water filtration system that filtered the drinking water that was available in the building complex. What is more, just about two years ago, Angela and the other company VIPs initiated a “Workers Walking Club” for employees who wanted to become more physically fit, enhance their cardiovascular system, or lose some weight.

Another example of a “health-oriented” program that was initiated just about two years ago by Angela and the rest of the top executives was a “Weight-Watchers” class. To oversee the program in a professional manner, moreover, top management hired weight-loss expert.

More recently, just over ten months ago, Angela and the other members of upper management initiated two additional programs: an “Anger Monitoring” program for company worker who wanted to learn how to better cope with anger-provoking events and a “Quit Smoking” class for employees who want to learn how to drastically decrease their smoking or totally stop smoking.

In the last five months, Angela and the other VIPs implemented an “Alcohol and Drug Testing” program. In fact, Angela is not only the manager of this program, but she is also the person with the responsibility for getting all of the employees up-to-speed about the inner-workings of this new and complex program.

One of the main components of the alcohol and drug testing program is a class that is entitled “Alcoholism and Depression” that meets every Tuesday and Thursday before work. The essential point in this class is informing employees that irresponsible and hazardous drinking and depression frequently occur in the same individual. The VIPs hope that workers who understanding this information will be motivated to face both medical conditions and get the alcohol rehab and the mental health counseling they require.

Although each and every one of the “proactive health” programs was anything but low-cost and required quite a bit of time and effort to organize, the company executives believe that they have already saved many thousands of dollars because they have provided all of their workers with safer, healthier, and more productive working conditions.