Saturday 31 May 2014

Why Pre Employment Drug Screening Is Not Just Meant For Some Businesses

By Nora Jennings


Employers are placed in difficult situations when workers start using drugs in workplace. It is not easy to detect if workers are taking drugs and other illegal substances, and by the time it is known, already damages have been caused. This is why employers have put in place proactive measures to ensure they curb this behavior. Some of the measures taken include pre employment drug screening, on-job random tests, and behavioral screening of workers.

There are many liabilities, which are associated with such a behavior. Apparently, some of the costs could be prevented if the workers are tested before they join work places. Some employers may assume that it is costly to conduct such tests or their business does not warrant testing workers. However, this is the wrong notion considering that any kind of business can be affected by drugs.

The workers may not execute their roles as expected in fear that they could be injured or harmed by those who take drugs. One way in which employers can enhance workplace safety and improve productivity is by pre screening employees prior to employment. The hiring process can be tailored in such a way it weeds out the bad elements before they get to work places in the first place.

Workplace injuries can attract high liabilities in form of compensation as well as increased premium rates. Insurers will likely increase the premium rates for worker compensation coverage if they consider a certain business to be recording more than average accidents. Although the compensations are handled by the insurer, the employers suffer in that the cost of insurance increases.

A workplace that records high number of accidents due to use of drugs could trigger an inspection by OSHA officials. This is not the kind of experience you would want to have. Drugs in workplace are also linked to high rate of malingering and absenteeism. There are costs that come with absenteeism, and they include paying for sick days as well as leaves to employees who spend days at home because they are sick.

Some employers may even consider the tests costly, but when the impacts caused by such behaviors are examined critically, it can be concluded that they cause devastating effects. Some of the common risks that face employers who do not consider leveraging drugs tests are such as high turnover, increased absenteeism and decreased productivity. There is also increased worker compensation.

Turnover within the workplace is never a bad thing as long as it is aimed at bringing in new productive workers. Every business experiences some turnover as workers willingly exit the workplace. However, when there are circumstances such as consumption of drugs compelling the employers to lay off worker, it means that new workers have to be hired.

It is better to prevent workers from joining the work place than hire some people who are ethically unfit to perform duties. It will cost businesses more money and loss of reputation if they do not consider testing their workers. Besides, the OSHA officials are always on the lookout for employers who may not be putting in place safety measures within workplace to protect their employees.




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