Page 60 - OHS, October 2020

WORKPLACE TESTING
EveninaPandemic,WorkforceDrugTestingisStillNecessary
BY BERRY SAMPLE
Many people consider the current era of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to lock downs, restrictions on the workplace and a distressed global
economy, to be seminal moment. Experts who follow the economy are calling into question the necessity of business practices such as working in an office, traveling for business and traditional office hours. However, recent drug testing data and patterns shows that workforce drug testing remains a necessity.
According to most recent Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing IndexTM, in full year 2019, the rate of workforce drug positivity hit a sixteen-year high in 2019.1 The positivity rates in the combined U.S. workforce increased in urine drug tests, climbing to the highest level since 2003 (4.5 percent) and more than 28 percent higher than the thirty-year low of 3.5 percent recorded between 2010 and 2012. Clearly the overall positivity trend is disturbing and its growing.
Positivity Rates for Methamphetamine Surged in the Midwest
Over the last five years, methamphetamine positivity in the general U.S. workforce testing increased nearly 12 percent. Between 2019 and 2018, methamphetamine positivity inched up nearly 6 percent in general U.S. workforce tests.
Additionally, the increased positivity rates for methamphetamine in urine test results were bolstered by similar patterns in other specimen types. Oral fluid methamphetamine positivity, which also assesses recent use, was up 4.3 percent since 2018 and up 69 percent since 2015; while methamphetamine positivity from hair tests, which gauges a pattern of drug use over time, was up 20 percent since 2018 and 60 percent since 2015.
Over the past five years, methamphetamine positivity in the Midwest increased nearly 78 percent. The Midwest was led by Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. These states also exhibited year-over-year increases in three of the four intervals between 2015 and 2019.
Cocaine Positivity Increased
in the Midwest and West
Cocaine positivity in the general U.S. workforce testing increased in the Midwest and West regions over the past five years. Cocaine positivity in the Midwest increased by 40 percent and in the West by 53 percent. The Midwest was 20 percent less than the national rate in 2015 but 3.7 percent above the national rate in 2019, suggesting a surge in positivity in the region last year.
In the West, where cocaine positivity has been
historically far lower, the cocaine positivity rate rose from 40 percent below the national rate in 2015 to 14.8 percent below in 2019. These increases in the West were primarily driven by increasing positivity in Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon, which exhibited year-over-year increases in at least three of the four intervals between 2015 and 2019.
Marijuana is the Most Commonly
Detected Drug
Marijuana continues to top the list of the most commonly detected illicit substances across all workforce categories (general U.S. workforce; federally mandated, safety-sensitive workforce; and combined U.S. workforce, which includes the prior two populations) and specimen types (urine, oral fluid, and hair).
In the general U.S. workforce, marijuana positivity increased nearly 11 percent in urine testing and 29 percent since 2015. In the Midwest, marijuana positivity outpaced national increases in positivity in 2018 and 2019. Marijuana positivity increased in the Midwest by nearly 14 percent. The West region also outpaced national positivity and saw double digit increases, as compared to the previous year, in 2017 through 2019. Marijuana positivity increased in the West by 24 percent.
Workforce Positivity Increased
Significantly in Multiple Industries
The Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index Industry Insights shows year-over-year increases in overall workplace drug positivity in 15 of the 17 sectors reported.
The Retail Trade industry had the highest overall positivity rate across all five years of the analysis. The Accommodations and Food Service category had the highest workforce positivity for marijuana, at 4.8 percent, a relative increase of 65 percent over five years.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of workplace drug positivity were trending in the wrong direction. Health and safety professionals need to consider the impact of COVID-19 not only on workplace safety but also as a health concern for their employees for some time to come.
Barry Sample, PhD, is senior director of science and technology, Quest Diagnostics employer solutions.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.questdiagnostics.com/home/physicians/ health-trends/drug-testing/
56 Occupational Health & Safety | OCTOBER 2020
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