Pro-Drug Testing in the Workplace

Drug Testing in the Workplace is an incredibly important component in the ongoing war against drugs. It is simply impossible to argue that employees who are high or that use drugs on a regular basis can be an effective part of a company. Indeed those who use illicit drugs are often responsible for workplace accidents, absenteeism, worker's compensation claims, and health care claims; all of which hurt a company's productivity and profit margins.

Recent polls indicate that seventy percent of drug users are employed. This means that approximately ten million people who use drugs on a regular basis are employed at any given time. Obviously the most direct method of attacking drug use is in the workplace.

Calvina L. Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation Inc. In St. Petersburg, Florida, wrote the following in a letter to the editor of the St. Petersburg Times.

When testing began to develop in workplaces in the early 80's, I saw thirty-eight percent of the workforce in a small Texas town unable to pass a drug test. This was a petrochemical town where the average worker could, by a simple human error, literally blow up the entire town. After several years of aggressive drug and alcohol testing, the rate of employees who could not pass a drug test dropped to less than ten percent. At least one corporation received a fifty percent reduction in its workers' compensation premium due to the reduction of workplace accidents.

Ninety-seven percent of employees agree that workplace drug testing is appropriate. Eighty-five percent indicate that they believe urine tests deter people from using illegal drugs. There is even a small percentage of employees who consider a drug-free workplace as one of the benefits of working for an employer who requires drug tests.

The most common reason provided for drug testing is "workplace safety." It has been suggested that those involved in industry, the armed forces, transportation, and those who are parolees or bail seekers should be tested. Along with these, professional athletes should also be tested as they are often role models for young people.

There are five ways that drug testing has been implemented in the United States. They are as follows:

Pre-employment or applicant testing: This is the most common form of drug testing as it weeds out people who use drugs before they ever become an employee.

Post-accident or for cause testing: When there is an accident at a worksite those involved are often tested.

Scheduled testing: Generally this form of testing takes place during routine physicals. As it is scheduled, it is not the most effective form of drug testing. It is possible for some people to cheat their way through these types of tests.

Random testing: This type of test generally takes place in job categories wherein public safety or security is involved. This is the most effective type of testing as the employee is completely unaware of when the test will take place.

Treatment follow-up testing: This type of test is used to monitor an employee who has tested positive for drug use and has attended mandatory treatment in order to keep his or her job. The idea behind this type of test is to make sure that the employee remains drug free.

Unfortunately, there have been many lawsuits concerning the drug tests in the workplace. Some of these suits are ludicrous, while others have made a case against employers. Included in these suits are claims such as invasion of privacy, wrongful discharge, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, false imprisonment, employer negligence, discrimination against people with disabilities, and even discrimination against minorities. For the most part these lawsuits have not held up. An employer has the right to know whether or not his employees are working at their full potential. An employer has the right to know whether or not his employees are high while they are supposed to be doing their jobs.

Certainly drug testing has a result that cannot be measured by statistics. How many families directly benefit from drug testing? How many parents that might use illegal drugs avoid them for fear of losing their jobs? And how many employees enter drug treatment as a result of these tests, only to come out completely clean to do their jobs both in the workplace and in the home more effectively? It is important to remember that most workplace drug programs offer drug treatment; not only that, they offer counseling to both the employee and the employee's family. The human and family results of such programs simply cannot be empirically measured.