Employees need to be drug tested from time to time. It can help you to identify if there are issues that need to be addressed. You want to do everything you can to have a good program in place - having drug free employees can make a world of a difference.
Avoid Drug Use
When employees know that they are going to be tested for drugs randomly, they are less likely to be users. Most employees are not going to take the chance of using drugs when they know that they could be tested. This means that you are going to weed out the "recreational users" from your pool of employees. Those will be the ones who will silently walk away - and go get a job at a company that doesn't do the drug testing.
Random drug testing makes it nearly impossible for employees to use drugs. This is because some employees may not get tested for six months, while other employees may be randomly chosen back-to-back for three months in a row. Most drugs take several days to get out of one system, and therefore a random test is likely going to show if someone is using or not.
Minimize Workplace Incidents
You have the ability to minimize workplace incidents when you conduct random drug testing as well. The last thing you want is to find out that an employee has been on drugs when they get into an accident. You have to deal with workers compensation and other things when a person gets into an accident. If you find that they were on drugs, it can make it more difficult to file claims, and both you and the employee could be in legal trouble.
Whenever there are workplace incidents, it is also going to cost you more in workers compensation insurance. It can reduce employee morale, and it can lower productivity. This means that your goal should be to minimize workplace incidents at all times. By conducting random drug testing, you can confirm if employees are using or not. If tests come back positive, you have some choices. You can choose to terminate them on the spot, provide them with substance abuse counseling, or move them into a different position.
Keep Employees Guessing
In the end, one of the main random drug testing is because it will keep your employees guessing as to when they will need to be tested again. If you are always on the same schedule, employees who are drug users will know when to stop so that they can test negative. This is not beneficial to your workplace safety program, and therefore you need to get results that you can count on.
You want to do everything you can to keep employees honest. If you have drug testing that is on the same schedule a month after month, employees will know how to cheat the system. With random drug testing, no one knows when they will be tested, and therefore drug use will drop significantly.
Selecting the right candidate for hire is difficult. So is preserving a drug- and alcohol-free environment. FleetScreen will help you design a personalized program of other screening services and support to fit your retention and hiring needs, as well as your budget. Contact us today to see how we deliver results you can't afford to be without.
