Drug Abuse in the Workplace

Authors Avatar

Drug Abuse in the Workplace

Bradley Jordan

425 Chemical Dependency in the Workplace

August 1, 2010

Dawn Weldon


Drug Abuse in the Workplace

        Drug abuse in the workplace exists within companies all over the world. The concern of each company is the safety of all employees, shareholders, insurer’s, suppliers and clients. Some illicit drugs that individual tend to abuse are ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and prescription drugs. If the war against drugs is not resolved in the workplace, then the economy of this country will fall.  

The National Survey statistics show that 75% of the people employed are drug users. The percentage number can be calculated into 12.3 million people. It is in the company best interest to provide a drug-free workplace and bring awareness. This particular approach will keep the company competitive globally. In the construction environment, the OSHA act is a legal policy that must be followed by all construction companies. The act ensures a legal safety procedure for all construction employees. For example, OSHA states that for every 25 workers, a safety coordinator must be assign. Safety harness must be worn if an employee is elevated six-feet high. Seatbelt and headlights must be worn when operating a mobile vehicle. The construction industry is the most dangerous job in America. This particular industry has more fatality than any other industry in the world. 1,186 fatal injuries were recorded by OSHA in 2005. Residential building construction, highway construction, bridge construction, and utility construction are just a few occupations that increased the fatalities in the construction industry. “ Based on what is known about the effects of drug use, it is safe to say that construction workers who abuse drugs cause more accidents, increase workers' compensation costs, create more rework, increase turnover rates and take away from a company's competitive edge” (BLS, 2005). Most companies in the Unites States have different drug screening method, but the majority relies on a urine drug testing. Although many large contractors use some form of drug testing, most currently rely on urine-based technologies.

Join now!

Other Related Issues

Urine drug screening is not 100% reliable because employees and potential employees have found avenues to pass the test with unclean urine. Certain stores sell clean urine and have liquid products that will clean the employee’s urine instantly. For example, employees were called in the office for a random drug screen. Two of the employees were marijuana users. One drug using employee passed the drug screen by using his or her coworkers urine. The other employee passed the drug screen by drinking a great deal of water and a capful of bleach. Drug test cheating has become ...

This is a preview of the whole essay