Drug Testing In The Workplace Essay

Drug test have been done in many sectors nowadays worldwide. It is being popular in the business sector where the employers do drug testing of the employees. Drug testing in the workplace is done to assist safety mainly. Some companies do drug testing in order to gain public trust. In many of the organization there is an policy, where a person have to take an pre-employment testing for the job. It helps to prevent hiring of individuals who uses illegal drugs. It also ensures, and informs both parties their rights, and responsibilities. Drug testing also ensures the employee to give a reasonable procedures in the workplace for reporting injury or illness. According to OHS Inc, national company with drug testing, drug

testing ranges the cost between $28-$42. The average national drug testing overall cost is $38.
Drug testing is more common in large businesses than small ones.

In manufacturing industries where huge machinery, heavy equipment are used, employees are told to do drug testing to ensure safety, and legible to work. In some small business where safety concerns are less it is not important to undergo drug testing. There are 5 types of employment drug testing : pre-employment testing, on duty random testing, reasonable suspicion testing, post accident testing, return to work and follow-up testing. Pre-employment testing is done to ensure that the person applying for the job is not using any drugs that may negatively affect the performance of the organization. Different methods of drug testing are : urine drug testing, hair follicle drug testing, saliva drug testing, etc. In On duty random testing an employer tells the employees that they may have to submit to drug testing at any time while on duty. Reasonable suspicion testing is done when an employee shows physical behavior that attributes to use of drugs or alcohol. Post accident testing should be done as soon as possible after an accident, if the employer has reasonable suspicion that the person may be involved in use of drugs or alcohol. Return to work and follow up testing is done to ensure the fitness to return to work.

Even though drug testing is commonly done, it has some legal considerations. Legal considerations are different in different companies. Each state has its own rules

and policies regarding drug testing. Some common legal considerations for drug testing are:
The employers should provide notice about the testing to the applicants, and employees.
The employers should have reasonable fact why the drug testing is done to the employees.
A reasonable suspicion is to be provided that an employee in under drug use, etc.
Though drug testing is important for the organizations, some employees may feel it as unnecessary. Some may feel mandatary. Some may feel its right, some may feel its wrong, it depends upon the person's perspective. There are personal, and ethical issues relating to drug testing. An employer have no idea about the employees personal life. For example, if an employee had consumed an alcohol before the day of the testing that s/he didn’t knew about, which was not appropriate in the workplace, even though the employee explains to the employer s/he doesn’t care about that. Similarly, the use of marijuana is legal in some states. And if a person where s/he is from a place where marijuana is legal, and applies for a job to another state, where the use of marijuana is illegal, and requires drug testing, the employer doesn’t care about where the person is from, and the applicator is required to do the drug testing no matter what. Even though it's right to use marijuana by the applicant, it is considered wrong to the workplace where s/he applied.