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Why Perform Drug Testing?

Employee drug testing is just one way employers can help protect their workplaces from the negative effects of alcohol and illegally used substances. A compliant substance abuse/drug testing program administered by a competent and trusted provider like Kroll can help deter employees from coming to work unfit for duty, and also discourages alcohol and other drug abusers from joining the organization in the first place.

Impact of Users & Abusers in the Workplace

Approximately 77 percent of all drug and alcohol abusers are employed.1 Their employment has numerous impacts in the workplace, including posing a danger to themselves, their fellow employees, customers, and innocent bystanders. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), up to 65 percent of all work-related accidents can be traced to substance abuse.2 Drug users are 3.6 times more likely to be involved in a workplace accident and five times more likely to file a worker’s compensation claim.3

The economic implications of employing substance users and abusers should also be of particular concern for organizations. The reported cost of employee substance abuse to U.S. businesses is approximately $81 billion a year from lost productivity, defective products, absenteeism, lost profits, accidents, turnover, theft, and worker’s compensation claims.4 Alcohol use alone accounts for 86 percent of this cost,5 as well as an astounding 500 million annual lost workdays.6

Meanwhile, drug users – including those who use illegal and prescription drugs – are:

2.2 times more likely to request early dismissal or time off
2.5 times more likely to have absences of eight days or more
3 times more likely to be late for work7

Leading insurance broker Marsh indicates that the cost to an organization of just one individual using drugs or alcohol is $640.8 Contrast this with Kroll calculations which indicate that implementing and maintaining a substance abuse-free workplace program typically costs less than$50 per employee. It’s obvious that the savings to an organization to implement such a program is substantial.

Why Drug Test?

Employee substance abuse (both drug and alcohol) may lead to on-the-job accidents, lower productivity among employees, greater absenteeism, higher healthcare costs, heightened threats to the health and safety of employees, and the possibility of theft.

The implementation of a drug testing program may be the result of several factors. Listed below are some of the most frequent reasons employers offer for maintaining such a program:9

To mitigate the potential for workplace violence, protecting employees, clients, contractors, and vendors
To improve safety in the workplace or with company property
To lessen the possibility for theft of company assets
To reduce the costs of alcohol and other drug abuse in the workplace
To reinforce the company position on "a drug-free workplace”
To match other employer efforts, and to minimize the chance of hiring employees who may be users or abusers
To identify current users and abusers and refer them to professionals for assistance
To convince "casual users" that the cost of using is too high
To deter "recreational" drug use that could lead to addiction
To give recovering users another reason to stay clean and/or sober (relapse prevention)
To establish grounds for discipline or termination of employment
To comply with federal, state, or industry regulations, including those mandated by the Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and Department of Energy
To comply with client or contract requirements
To comply with insurance carrier requirements

(1) workplace.samhsa.gov reference
(2) www.irmi.com reference
(3) US Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,” Rockville, MD: 2000. Quoted on the following page
(4) USDHHS SAMHSA, “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Statistics Sourcebook,” Rockville, MD: 1995. Quoted on the following page
(5) USDHHS, “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Statistics Sourcebook”, 1995: 3. Quoted on the following page
(6) National Association of Treatment Providers, “Treatment is the Answer: A White Paper on the Cost-Effectiveness of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency Treatment,” Laguna Hills, CA: 1991. Quoted on the following page
(7) USDHHS, “1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse."
(8) Workplace Blues Website reference
(9) Expomed website reference