John Smith seemed like the ideal employee. With tons of relevant experience and an easy-going personality, how could Construction Company X not hire him? Nothing about him suggested that he drank like a fish and liked to do drugs on the weekend-until his weekend activities bled over into the work week, and then there were problems.
Expensive equipment started disappearing, and John was irritable and picked fights with his coworkers. Then one day, he caused a terrible accident that landed his buddy in the hospital. True, this particular example is fictional. But don't think for a moment that this couldn't happen to your company or that it doesn't happen all the time in the construction industry.
In a high-risk industry like construction, employers are responsible for providing a safe work environment, free from preventable hazards. And given that statistics show approximately 10 percent or more of construction workforce abuses drugs, resulting in increased workplace violence, theft and accidents, employers can't afford to ignore this risk. As an owner, it is your responsibility to provide a safe and drug-free work environment.
Don't think you or your company is responsible? Legally, workplace violence is governed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a division of the Department of Labor. OSHA clearly designates that employers are responsible for providing a safe work environment for all employees. The Supreme Court established in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton (1998) that "companies must prevent, and not simply react, to a hostile workplace."
Effects of Drug Abuse on Internal Security
Internal security is by nature a behavioral-based issue and the costs associated with not effectively managing it are staggering. For example, 17 percent of all violent crimes are committed in the workplace, and the cost of workplace violence alone exceeds $120 billion a year (U.S. National Institute on Occupational Health and Safety).
The relationship between violence, theft, on-the-job accidents and drug abuse is well-established. For example, the nationwide ADAM (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program) survey notes that approximately two-thirds of all arrestees, male and female, test positive for drugs. Other studies show that over 50 percent of on-the-job accidents are related to drug abuse (National Council on Compensation Insurance), 47 percent of inventory shrinkage is due to employee theft and up to 65 to 80 percent of employee theft is drug-related (National Retail Federation, NRF, Annual Study 2004).
Despite those statistics and the obvious importance of internal security at both construction sites and office environments, many contractors fail to employ proactive management techniques.
Solutions are Available
Traditional tools such as background screening, including drug testing, are a start in the right direction. Today, organizations are enhancing hiring procedures to include employment screening processes focused on screening out violence-prone applicants before they are hired. Interviews include carefully worded questions to ascertain negative behavior traits to eliminate undesirable candidates. Typical screening tools include one or all of the following:
- Reference checking regarding previous employers
- Background checks, e.g., criminal background
- Verification of identify
- Driving record
- Credit history
- Drug testing
Benefits of Drug Testing
Pre-employment drug testing and background screening of applicants is certainly helpful, but by no means sufficient. Random testing and specifically on-site oral fluid-based technologies used along with post-accident, reasonable cause and return-to-duty drug testing, provides the best possible drug-free workplace solution. Random testing is the most effective tool used for prevention as it deters drug use in the workplace. Unlike pre-employment testing, it's not an "IQ" test. With pre-employment testing, drug abusers can simply avoid drugs for a week before applying for a job and will most likely pass a pre-employment test that is urine-based or even oral-fluid based. And drug abusers can easily defeat a urine-based test via sample adulteration or substitution. Only random, on-site oral fluid-based testing resolves this issue, and any issues related to privacy and degradation associate with urine-based testing.
Implementing a Drug Testing Program
Random drug testing programs, combined
