Drug Testing In The Workplace

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Businesses of all sizes can spend significant money on increased costs for healthcare, accident payments and lost productivity due to the use of drugs and alcohol. For large organizations, the money lost can run into the millions of dollars, and for small businesses, it can mean success or failure. Obviously, substance abuse is bad for businesses, both financially and in terms of its reputation with businesses and consumers.

Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for 2014, shows us that the numbers of people that indulge in substance abuse are relatively high; 10.6% of full-time employees and 13.2% of those working part-time had self-reported the use of illicit drugs within the past 30 days. Of course, self-reporting
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These problems are much of the reason why employers use drug testing to filter out those with substance abuse problems and reduce or eliminate drugs and alcohol use in the workplace. Most managers know that substance abuse can lead to increased risk of injury, higher absenteeism and lowered performance or productivity. To establish the safest work environment and highest productivity, drug testing is a great tool for organizations to use.

By most accounts, drug testing in the workplace has been quite successful. Since it became a common practice during the 1980’s, and especially following the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988, the number of positive drug tests has declined steadily. Along with that drug testing, some of the costs of dealing with workplace problems that were once all too common, have generally fallen as well. Of course, employee productivity is one of the most important; however, things you might not have considered, workplace crimes such as violence and theft, employee turnover and regulatory compliance issues are critical as well.

How to implement drug testing
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For instance, the highest rates are typically found among construction workers, and can range around 15 percent for drug use, and a few points higher still for heavy alcohol use, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Of course, this is extremely hard work, so it is understandable that the rates for substance abuse are higher. More importantly, this type of work can more easily lead to accidents and injuries on the job. Disconnecting substance abuse from construction work is one of the most positive outcomes of workplace drug testing.

Most construction companies understand the importance of substance abuse testing and go beyond a simple marijuana screen; often, they will test for cocaine, prescription drugs, heroin, ecstasy and PCP, as well as alcohol. Many also go beyond a basic urine test and insist upon hair or blood testing. In cases of for-cause testing, breath and saliva tests are common as well.

How does drug testing promote higher

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