Drugs In The Work Place

Even with random drug testing it does not guarantee safety. There has never been a commercial airline accident linked to pilots for illegal drug use. In a 1994 Amtrak accident in which several lives were lost, investigators discovered the train engineer had a well-known history of alcohol, not drug, abuse. (Gibson) Computer-assisted performance tests, which measure hand-eye coordination and response time, are a better way of detecting whether employees are up to the job. NASA, for example, has long used task-performance tests to determine whether astronauts and pilots are, unfit for work and whether the cause is substance abuse, fatigue, or physical illness. (O"Keefe).
             Although work place drug testing has grown in popularity it has created a lot controversy. Employers feel they have the right to protect their business from lawsuits due to accident and injuries because of employees using drugs or alcohol. The justification for performing drug testing is to prevent workers from claiming workers" compensation benefits because of the job related injuries caused by drug and alcohol. With forty-four percent of young adults, admit to having used drugs in the past year employers are taking percussion. These are the people now entering the nation's workforce. This is some of the reasons why drug testing is multiplying in both private industry and government agencies.
             The need to identify drug problems in the work place is a growing concern for employees. In order to protect its workers and provide a safe working environment, employers should test employees under circumstances, which result in reasonable suspicion that drugs are being use, by the employees. It is a known fact that drugs can significantly impair a person's work performance, lowering productivity. In fact, drug and alcohol abuse cost employers nearly $100 billion in lost productivity each year. Employees who use drugs have double the rate of absenteeism, higher job turnover rates, and cost three times as much in terms of medical benefits as those who do not use drugs.