The use of drug testing has become extremely prominent within the workplace, and with drug testing technology advancing, it is a very common occurrence for employees to be drug tested. One of the most important aspects of identifying drug use in the workplace is impairment.
A recreational marijuana user may show no signs of immediate intoxication, in fact, the obvious symptoms which include red or puffy eyes, delayed reactions and an increased heart rate could be from other causes such as lack of sleep or stress. As it is so difficult to determine which employees are under the influence of a substance such as marijuana, company bosses are adamant on using workplace drug testing on their employees.
The most common industries that drug tests are used are construction and manufacturing whereby which employees are using heavy machinery. It’s as simple as a drug test could simply saves one life from a catastrophic event. But it’s not just the industries that use heavy or dangerous equipment that should be concerned over drug use. Sectors including the haulage industry and car dealerships, restaurant and food industries are all at risk. It’s the simple case that if you have invested a huge financial sum into your business, why would you simply jeopardise it with employees that will put the entire business at risk.
The haulage industry, in particular, conducts many random drug tests on its drivers. This is for the obvious fact that these employers are not only operating such a large and dangerous vehicle, but they are driving very long distances for many hours. It is unthinkable to think that the amount of lives at risk by an intoxicated truck driver on a busy motorway.
It is essential that employers need to be confident that there drug free workplace policies are enforced at the highest level. Even though a number of American states have recently changed their legalised status on marijuana for medical or recreational use, this is simply not a reason to stop workplace drug testing for this particular substance. There are many ways to test if a worker has cannabis in his or her system, and this includes the testing of ones saliva, hair and from a urine test.