Page 42 - Occupational Health & Safety, July 2018

DRUG TESTING
TheFar-Reaching,PositiveImpactofWorkplaceDrugTesting
Given that the United States represents 5 percent of the world’s population and consumes 60 percent of the world’s supply of illicit drugs, drug testing can be seen as an investment against the cost of low productivity.
BY SCOTT HOWELL
40 Occupational Health & Safety | JULY 2018
www.ohsonline.com
An aging workforce often suffering with un- healthy lifestyles and the growing demand for enhanced worker productivity have ushered in an era of new workplace chal- lenges for health and safety professionals. The good news is that employment drug testing can serve as a powerful risk mitigation tool that provides far-reach- ing organizational and societal benefits. In addition to promoting a safer, more productive workplace, it can help to decrease employee turnover and absenteeism, reduce employer risk, and lower workers’ compensa- tion incidence rates.1
Seventy percent of the 14.8 million Americans who abuse drugs are employed.2 When an employee abuses drugs, employers and payers take on the risk of: workplace injuries, compromised productivity due to absenteeism and presenteeism, and liability.3 Drug abuse can cost U.S. business owners more than $140
billion every year, which includes turnover rates for employees who abuse drugs.4 The drugs at the root of this issue include cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, metham- phetamine, and prescription drugs.
While a standard five- or 10-panel urine drug screen typically costs between $30 and $60, it’s impor- tant to consider the hidden, dramatically higher costs of not having a drug testing program at all.
Work-Related Accidents and Fatalities
Employees who abuse prescription drugs are two to five times more likely to take unexcused absences, be late for work, be injured or violent at work, file work- ers’ compensation claims, and quit or be fired within one year of employment, according to the National Safety Council.5
The upside of this equation is that employees are more likely to undergo treatment when it is fostered
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