The cost of alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace is high. Lost productivity due to absenteeism, increased health insurance claims and injuries are just some of the ways businesses pay for substance abuse each day.

According to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), the loss to companies in the United States due to employee alcohol and drug abuse is $100 billion a year. Alcohol and drug users, according to NCADI statistics, use three times more sick days, are more likely to have an injury or cause an injury to someone else, are five times more likely to file worker's compensation claims and, as you can imagine, are far less productive.

So, how much is your company losing due to substance abuse? Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, part of The George Washington University Medical Center, offers a free alcohol cost calculator on their website. The calculator asks what industry you work in, the number of employees and the state in which your employees work. From this simple information, the website calculates the likely number of problem drinkers in your workforce, the likely number of work days lost to sickness, injury and absence because of a drinking problem, the cost of lost days and more.

You might be surprised by the results. The website also includes information about what to do about alcohol problems in the workplace, if you don't already have a program in place.