Alcohol and Drug Testing Policy - Evidence of effectiveness?

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little__cee

#32
Question about the alcohol policy

Pennsylvania recently lowered "legal limit" for driving while intoxicated from 0.1 to 0.08 (meaning you're now legally drunk at 0.08 instead of the 0.10)

So for workplace alcohol policies, is there ANY limit that's acceptable? If you took Nyquil the night before you could probably still have a level higher than zero, correct?

I'm just curious - not trying to muddy the thread but I checked our policy and it just states something generic - no specific level is mentioned.
 
J

Jim Howe

#33
WOW! We certainly have generated some fascinating contributions. Perhaps we need some HR types to get actual facts on absenteeism, tardiness and overtime. But let's suppose we had the facts and that they showed reductions in the four issues of the first post. The final question I asked was is it "LEAN"? any thoughts on this?
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#34
Jim Howe said:
WOW! We certainly have generated some fascinating contributions. Perhaps we need some HR types to get actual facts on absenteeism, tardiness and overtime. But let's suppose we had the facts and that they showed reductions in the four issues of the first post. The final question I asked was is it "LEAN"? any thoughts on this?
I don't have an opinion on the rightness or wrongness of employee drug testing as a social question, but I do have an opinion on what statistics I would like to see before investing dollars in a drug/substance abuse program in a business I owned:
Do the neighboring businesses have any statistics of "before and after" to show a decrease in absenteeism, higher net work output, lower medical insurance bills, lower employee turnover? (My insurance company should be able to help me get those statistics and still maintain the business privacy of my neighbors.)

Do neighboring companies, companies in my industry, or my own company have research to document root cause of product nonconformance, accidents and injuries to be performance impairment due to substance abuse?

Finally, I'd want to know if old-fashioned methods of managing by walking around would save me the cost of multiple testing of all employees to catch one or two substance abusers because they could be identified on sight when they were impaired on site.

As for the social aspects of testing: is it really any different than making sure a dock loader can indeed lift a fifty pound carton to load a truck? or clerk to type 50 words per minute from a standardized test? If employee says: "Yes, you should get lower insurance premium because I don't smoke, drink, or use other chemical substances and thus pay me higher wage or even just hire me." It seems little enough to ask employee to prove it.
 

Al Rosen

Staff member
Super Moderator
#35
FAA Rules

little_cee said:
Pennsylvania recently lowered "legal limit" for driving while intoxicated from 0.1 to 0.08 (meaning you're now legally drunk at 0.08 instead of the 0.10)

So for workplace alcohol policies, is there ANY limit that's acceptable? If you took Nyquil the night before you could probably still have a level higher than zero, correct?

I'm just curious - not trying to muddy the thread but I checked our policy and it just states something generic - no specific level is mentioned.
FYI
Alcohol Misuse Prevention Program

Drug Testing Program
 
J

Jim Howe

#36
little__cee said:
Pennsylvania recently lowered "legal limit" for driving while intoxicated from 0.1 to 0.08 (meaning you're now legally drunk at 0.08 instead of the 0.10)

So for workplace alcohol policies, is there ANY limit that's acceptable? If you took Nyquil the night before you could probably still have a level higher than zero, correct?

I'm just curious - not trying to muddy the thread but I checked our policy and it just states something generic - no specific level is mentioned.
I reviewed our program and could not find a limit. I inquired to the HR manager who stated there is definitely a limit and she would look it up. So far no response.

ADD: I am now being told that the upper limit for alcohol is 0.02 for our program. I tried the Nyquil bit out on the HR and received this response; If the test is positive any extenuating conditions will be reviewed by the MRO (medical review officer). :nopity:
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#37
I just read a very interesting and shocking :eek: article on drug testing in the workplace in the November 2004 edition of INC. magazine. Written by Norm Brodsky, I think anyone interested in this subject should read it.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#38
Mike S. said:
I just read a very interesting and shocking :eek: article on drug testing in the workplace in the November 2004 edition of INC. magazine. Written by Norm Brodsky, I think anyone interested in this subject should read it.
Which can be located and read here!

I'm curious, Mike. What is so shocking to you in the article?
 

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
#39
Wes Bucey said:
Which can be located and read here!

I'm curious, Mike. What is so shocking to you in the article?
For starters, that 50% of his current workforce of 130 people were using drugs even after given a 45 day advanced notice of the test so they could get clean before being tested. And that 75% of new hires flunk. That shocks me. Doesn't it shock you -- or am I too naive? :confused:
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#40
Mike S. said:
For starters, that 50% of his current workforce of 130 people were using drugs even after given a 45 day advanced notice of the test so they could get clean before being tested. And that 75% of new hires flunk. That shocks me. Doesn't it shock you -- or am I too naive? :confused:
I'm not easily shocked.
Depending upon the socio-economic status and educations of the tested population, I would expect more or less positive "hits" for drugs..

Many folks are unaware how long testable residue remains in the human body after using a banned substance. Lots of bad information out there that one can drink vinegar and invalidate a test. Some users think they are immortal, invulnerable, and invisible - they are too far gone to care whether they beat a test or not. Some folks may look for a way to get on an organization sponsored and paid rehab program and deliberately "use" to trigger the test.

I wouldn't be surprised at alcohol tests, either. Acquaintances tell me of folks smoking on smoke-free work sites. What does it all mean?

In my opinion, it means some work sites may have to perform more rigorous testing than others. There is no worksite from the executive suite down to the landscaping crew which does not have folks who abuse drugs. For brief periods, cocaine and "crystal meth" users may even appear to be sharper and more alert than a non user. Similarly for folks who have bipolar disorder, which can also be disastrous in a workplace.

Without going into the legal issues, but only to raise the question in the reader's mind:
"Is someone who still has sufficient trace amounts of marijuana, cocaine, opium, methamphetamine, etc. to show up on a test any more impaired than the person who is stoked up on LEGAL sudafed cold medicine (which contains a stimulant similar to methamphetamine) or sleepy from Benadryl, taken for allergies (similar to alcohol or opium in inducing sleepiness and slowed reaction time)?"
 
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