Important Points to be Considered in Drug Free Workplace Program

Published May 20, 2010

Drug abusing at workplace is a critical issue, which affects the reputation and productivity of your business. To overcome such problems many companies implements the drug free workplace program. It has a positive impact on the safety of employees and their productivity. This program helps the employers to prevent recruitment of drug abusers and can remove the employees who illicitly abuses and rehabilitating with an addiction. Besides flourishing the businesses, this program protects the employees with required measures before they cause any injury.

Points to consider for Drug Free Workplace Program

Some employers don’t know how to start such program, so they get around for its conception. In fact, there are certain easy steps, which are effective and legal in terms of cost, productivity and safety. They are:

• Prepare a Written Policy: Prepare a written “Drug-Free Workplace” policy that provides legal protection and safeguards the employee’s rights. Distribute the copies of the policy to all the employees and get them signed for accepting that they understood and obeys the policy.

• Post signs: Place the post signs stating “We Are A Drug Free Workplace”. You can post the sign at your office entrance, in the coffee room, or in the lobby.

• Providing Educational Material: Your company has to provide the educational material about the prevention of drug abuse to all its employees. Frequently, remind them that your company maintains a Drug Free Workplace.

• Pre-Employment Drug Testing: Adopt pre-employment drug testing in your recruiting process. The applicants have to sign the policy for accepting the drug testing, before commencing their work and will not be hired if they test positive.

• Provide Awareness Training: your company should provide an awareness training of drug abuse affects for the employees. It helps to isolate them in an effective method and prevent the drug problems.

• Reasonable Suspicion: Employers or managers have to test the employees whenever there is an evidence for reasonable suspicion. The supervisor can identify the drug abuse by the physical signs, behavioral symptoms, or performance of the employee.

• Post Accident Drug Testing: When an employee is injured or caused any damage or loss of property/life, the company has to conduct the post accident drug/alcohol test. Some states even refuses the workers compensation claim, if employee results positive in the post-accident drug testing.

• Assure of Certified Labs: The company has to assure that the drug test provider uses federally certified laboratories for analyzing the employees’ specimens, as they are most reliable labs. You even have to retest the positive test results with the GC/MS confirmation test.

• Utilize MRO services: To confirm the positive results of the test utilize the Medical Review Officer (MRO) services. Especially when the result is not due to the medicines taken by the employee, which is legally prescribed.

• Quite Applying Test: Ensure that the company’s written policy is applied to every employee impartially. Make sure of discriminating risk allegation or there are no exceptions to the policy.

The above information helps the businesses and employers as a guide for setting up and beginning the Drug Free Workplace program.

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Important Points to be Considered in Drug Free Workplace Program

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