by M. L. Houseal
Marketing Strategic Consultant
Harman Stone Corporation
When Clinton Carrier, the owner of a 75-worker welding and fabrication shop in a rural Arkansas town, began to suspect a recently-hired welder of drug abuse, he was first tipped off by the office worker the welder had dated a few times.
Carrier (his name has been changed to protect his privacy) decided to visit the welder’s very public FaceBook page where, he was told, he might get a clearer picture of the man he had employed. He did, and the photos and posts he saw opened his eyes to a lifestyle that was — at the very least — helpful in explaining the man’s poor time and attendance record over 5 months, and even the rumors of a potential sexual harassment issue between co-workers. Carrier had verbally warned the worker twice about his tardiness and absenteeism, but let the warnings suffice. There was no documentation other than private notes in the man’s file, and his time records.
When the welder soon afterward caused a hazardous incident involving property damage through an apparent lapse in judgement and a clear violation of the shop’s safety standards, Carrier brought him in from the shop and had a drug test administered by a Nurse Practitioner. Carrier counseled the man, wrote him up, and sent him home for the day. The test results came back the next day: The presence of methamphetamine’s and alcohol was detected. Carrier brought the man back into the office that day and terminated him.
“I didn’t routinely test for drugs on initial applications,” Carrier said. “I didn’t think it was in keeping with the ‘family’ culture I wanted to create in my workplace. I trusted people at their word. In this small community, it meant something. I was too trusting, and that was wrong. I’ve since changed my views, and my application and hiring process.”
Carrier’s head-on collision with the nation’s growing workplace drug culture illustrates in microcosm a much larger problem. Employers who have avoided drug testing on application and at random intervals for probable cause, usually express reluctance to do so because it seems overly intrusive and stringent, and at odds with the warm and fuzzy “working family” culture that many small business owners strive to create. But that reluctance has a cost. And the cost is growing, as surely as the nation’s opioid epidemic and the recreational use – even production – of street drugs of all types at home and, sadly, in the workplace.
Statistics on the annual costs related to crime, lost productivity, absenteeism, disability and workers compensation that result from the use of alcohol and illicit drugs are staggering: Nearly $440 billion annually (NIDA and Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine).
Risky use of alcohol, prescription pain medication misuse, and other drug use disorders are among the most common and costly health conditions affecting Americans. The Surgeon General reports that just 3 years ago, 27.1 million adolescents and adults used illicit drugs or misused prescription drugs (JOEM). In 2019, those numbers have most certainly risen on the prevailing tide of the drug culture which has spread to virtually every community in the nation to varying degrees.
The cost of substance abuse to employers may not be as apparent. Despite estimates that the national bill for substance abuse annually has far exceeded $400 billion, individual companies – and small businesses in particular – may not see how substance abuse impacts their bottom lines. Business owners remain largely in the dark about how substance abuse, whether at home or in the workplace, impacts their companies and what they can do to reduce their risks and costs (See The Real Costs of Substance Use in Your Workforce: https://www.nsc.org/forms/substance-use-employer-calculator/index.aspx ).
According to a survey from treatment website Detox, seven in 10 Americans have used drugs while at work, including opiates, amphetamines and cocaine (Melissa Wylie, The Business Journals, 1/18/2018). Wylie says, however, “the industries where workers regularly get high don’t always match perceptions. For example, retail had the highest number of workers who reported taking drugs at work – 14.07%.
“Detox surveyed 1,121 professionals who admitted to having used drugs in the workplace,” Wylie wrote. “Marijuana was excluded from the survey because of varying legality across the U.S.
“Opiates are the most commonly used drug, as 17.83 percent said they had consumed them while at work. Benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium came in second at 17.05%, and amphetamines and cocaine tied for third at 8.53%.”
After that, according to Wylie, it gets even more interesting.
“Most respondents said they use drugs on the way to work or on their lunch break. The car or parking lot is the most common place to consume drugs for 48.03% of respondents, while the bathroom is a top choice for 18.4%.
“To pass workplace drug tests, 31.51% of respondents said they use ‘detox drinks’ and 24.37% substitute their urine.”
Research company Statistic Brain showed over half (56%) of all U.S. employers require workers to take pre-employment drug tests. Because many small businesses are under the radar of such national studies, they are under-sampled, but it’s generally believed that most employers in the 25-to-250 worker category do not routinely require drug testing as a condition of employment. It’s also believed that in such small businesses, the drug testing process may be administered somewhat haphazardly, even after an accident whether it involves property damage or personal injury to the worker or others.
What to do?
The intelligent small-business response would seem to be:
- Assessment of new-hire processes and the integration of drug screening to new hire checklists, and
- Restructure of their application, interview and hiring processes to consistently probe for the presence of risk factors that may not be so obvious as those revealed by simple testing.
One prevalent misconception is that drug testing is expensive. In reality, most tests can be administered in simple “chain of custody” fashion for $35-40 per individual in most areas of the country. Put that up against the cost of the average workers comp claim – nearly $40,000 – (National Safety Council) and the false economy becomes glaringly apparent (https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/workers-compensation-costs/).
Experts urge some cultural shifting, even in the friendliest, most closely held family businesses, if the risk is to be managed. Employers should examine their attitudes about drug testing and find ways to create an envelope around the application, interview and hiring process that recognizes the importance of the “family” culture they want to maintain, but not at the expense of increased risk. Prospective employees with healthy habits will not object to the test as part of the vetting process when the safety and workplace security concerns are clearly conveyed in the application and interview process. If an applicant balks or refuses, it should be the end of the process.
Harman Stone’s president, Chris Harman, has some simple recommendations to help small business owners to help them assess their risk and take concrete steps to mitigate it.
“In our Human Resource Consulting mode, Harman Stone offers a New Hire Checklist as a starting guide. It includes proven best practices that work for a wide range of small businesses, whether they are industrial, retail, legal groups or other types of employment situations. We offer our services at no-cost or low-cost, in the process of tailoring the client’s insurance coverage’s to fit their needs, and in an economical way.”
Formalizing the checklist, he says, is an effective way to control expectations from both the company’s perspective and that of applicants. It sets the tone for the process as a business exercise, and helps instill a healthy, productive outlook in applicants.
“The workplace has to be regulated, but it doesn’t have to be oppressive or dispassionate. A culture of safety, mutual respect and the encouragement of healthy habits benefits everyone. And it’s necessary in our society to help counter the destructive effects of the drug culture that threatens us all, whether directly or indirectly.”
"Driving Positive Outcomes for Small Business."
Human Resource Consulting Request for Information
Speak with a Harman Stone Associate.
We’re very eager to be of service to you and your business.
