Substance abuse not only has devastating effects on families but also on the economy. It is no wonder why drug testing employees has become essential in the workplace. The National Safety Council has created a Substance Use Cost Calculator for Employers to show how substance abuse will affect their wallets. Furthermore, this calculator showcases the divide in what occupations will suffer by allowing you to choose the career and amount of employees. So, how does your business add up?

Professions that suffer mainly from the addiction crisis and on-site drug abuse might not be what you would expect. For instance, the number one profession for abusing illegal substances is restaurant and hospitality workers. Also, people who work in the food or hospitality industry have the highest problem-drinking and substance abuse rates. Doctors and health care professionals are closely behind since some of the most demanding high-stress jobs are caregivers. Next are arts and entertainment professionals, where creativity and drug abuse have an age-old relationship. The following careers tend to have high numbers of addiction rates:

• lawyers
• construction workers
• management
• sales professionals
• police officers
• firefighters
• military members

Is your business on that list? Regardless, the National Safety Council found that employees with substance abuse problems cost, on average, double the amount of an employee without substance abuse issues. With one in twelve workers in the United States suffering from an untreated drug disorder, you might be asking yourself what you can do as an employer to reduce these costs. Luckily, there is an astonishing amount of research on this topic.

How Does Drug Use Affect Your Workforce

The majority of adults have experimented with illicit drug usage throughout their life. Whenever this experimentation becomes habits, careers begin to feel the impact. Employees functioning through an active addiction are more likely to miss work, miss work more often, or be late to work. Without workers to maintain your business, your revenue will suffer. When someone has a substance abuse problem, they are more likely to jump from job to job, which increases your turnover rate. What if I said that over 65% of on-site accidents that harmed someone have substance abuse as a factor? It’s true. So, hiring someone with an active drug habit will result in more workplace accidents where they are more likely to file workman’s compensation claims.

What Employers Can Do To Reduce The Effects of Substance Abuse on Their Workforce

Employers can implement safety standards that will protect themselves and their employees. For example, start by offering educational materials to your workforce about drug abuse and its impact. Be consistent with the enforcement of a firm and concise drug-free workplace policy. You can do this by issuing drug panel testing as a presumptive measure through pre-employment screenings, randomly throughout employment, post-accident, and upon reasonable doubt. Also, train your employees and supervisors to identify and respond to the first signs of drug misconduct or impairment. Drug screening is a vital way to promote workplace safety and reduce illegal drug usage problems in the U.S.

Pre-employment drug screening is vital to reduce high turnover rates, boost employee morale, cut costs, and reduce potential liabilities. Obvious employment opportunities should always require a pre-employment drug screening, like transportation companies or jobs that require the use of heavy machinery. These industries almost always require a screening process. However, the professions listed above also need to combat substance abuse by enlisting in this same process.

Implement and Uphold Drug Screening Process in Your Workforce

Protect your workplace from substance abuse by enacting drug testing. Drug screening minimizes a company’s possibility of hiring an employee with a substance abuse issue, employee absenteeism, increases workforce productivity, and reduces the risk for on-site accidents. Also, by staying consistent with drug testing in your business, you could be motivating a possible recovering addict to remain sober and deter others from developing habits from recreational usage. Contact us at Soteria Screening Laboratories to secure your workplace today.