Event Details

How to Implement a Comprehensive Alcohol & Drug Program in your Workplace (Non-DOT)

Presented by Debra Weiss Ford, Esquire, Maureen Pecora, EAP Manager, LCMHC, CEAP, SAP, and Dr. Abe Timmons, Medical Director, DO, MPH, FACOEM

This interactive session will discuss how to implement a non-DOT comprehensive alcohol and drug program in the workplace including a discussion of what to consider, include and not include in policies related to substance abuse and fitness for duty; guidance in the workplace legalities of medical and recreational use of marijuana; why and how a comprehensive EAP will support and supplement a testing program in dealing with troubled and/or impaired employees; substance abuse in the workplace and what to expect when you include drug and or alcohol testing in your workplace.

About the Presenters:

Debra Weiss Ford, Esq: Debra Weiss Ford is Office Managing Principal and Litigation Manager of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She has more than 35 years of experience representing employers in litigation matters before the state and federal courts and administrative agencies.

Ms. Ford also represents employers before the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights, the Maine Human Rights Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New Hampshire Department of Labor, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Ms. Ford trains frequently in New England on issues related to employment law, including discrimination, wrongful discharge, reductions in force, termination issues, wage and hour issues, proper documentation, leaves of absence, and Title IX compliance. She regularly advises clients on employment-related matters.

Ms. Ford was a member of the New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners from 1993 to 2005. She was appointed by the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to serve on the Merit Selection Panel to consider the reappointment of the incumbent magistrate. In 2003, she was appointed to serve on the Federal Court Advisory Committee. She is an approved federal and state mediator.

Maureen Pecora: Maureen Pecora joined the Center for Occupational and Employee Health in September, 1987.  Her forty years of clinical experience include a variety of settings, including community mental health and hospital-based employee assistance.  Her responsibilities as Manager of the Health Watch Employee Assistance Program incorporate all aspects of operating a hospital-based Employee Assistance Program, including budget development and management, staff hiring and supervision, and client consultation.  Ms. Pecora and her staff provide assessment, short-term problem-solving, referral services, and management consultation for employees, families, and supervisors of participating companies and institutions.  In addition, she oversees the promotional and training needs for client companies and provides substance abuse professional (SAP) services for DOT-related companies.

Ms. Pecora has been a member of the Employee Assistance Professional Association (EAPA), for over twenty-five years, and was President of the Granite State Chapter of EAPA from 1989-1991 and 2008-2010.  Maureen has taught in the Human Services Division of North Shore Community College in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Dr. Abe Timmons: Dr. Timmons is the medical director of occupational medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic in Nashua, NH, Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, NH, and the Center for Occupational & Environmental Health in Exeter, NH. In this role he provides clinical leadership to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Exeter Health Resources health systems in southern New Hampshire. He has extensive background in occupational medicine, in both civilian and military settings. Dr. Timmons has been flight surgeon in the Air Force for 10 years, and has continued in that role, now serving as the chief of aerospace medicine at the 104^th Fighter Wing, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield, Massachusetts.  In addition to his civilian and military positions, he has appointments as a senior FAA aviation medical examiner, a U.S. Civil Surgeon, and a Medical Review Officer (MRO). 

Dr. Timmons received his medical degree from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences-College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his internship in medicine at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, and his occupational medicine residency and Masters of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, where he served as the chief resident. He is board certified in occupational medicine, and is a fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.Division of North Shore Community College in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Thank you to our sponsor, Exeter Hospital Center for Occupational and Employee Health:

Please click HERE to register.