Purpose

• Employers may use drug tests to deter employees from engaging in drug use or to identify individuals who engage in drug use. A drug free workplace reduces accidents and employee injuries, which can potentially cost an employer millions of dollars in replacing equipment or workers compensation claims. Employers have a duty to protect its employees from potentially hazardous situations, and drug testing serves to reduce or eliminate these hazards.
  
  

Drugs

• Public employers are limited to five drugs that they may test employees for. These drugs are: amphetamines, tetrahydrocannabinol, cocaine, opiates, and phencyclidine. Private employers are not limited and may test for additional substances such as: ecstasy, inhalants, anabolic steroids, hallucinogens, methadone, and barbituates.
  
  

Test Types

• Employers can choose between a urine, oral, or hair test. Urine testing is the most commonly used and only detects recent drug use. Drugs are removed from the system within a short period of time (72 hours to one week), and an employee can pass the drug test by ceasing the use of drugs days prior. Oral tests measure drugs in a person's saliva. Drug traces do not remain in saliva as long as in urine. Hair analysis provides a more detailed synopsis of a person's substance abuse and can detect drug use going back 90 days.
  
  

Instances

• Drug testing can be required of an employee after a workplace accident, based on reasonable suspicion, and randomly. It is common for an employer to require an employee involved in a workplace accident submit to drug testing when the accident involved property damage and/or injury to a person. A workers compensation claim may be denied if the employee was under the influence of illicit drugs during the accident.
  
  An employee exhibiting behavior indicative of drug use, may be required to take a drug test. Drug testing policies should detail the types of behaviors that would lead a manager to believe an employee is under the influence of drugs. Such behaviors include unusually slow gait, glossy eyes, and slurred speech.
  
  Companies may require that employees submit to unannounced random drug screens. The employer will use a computer system that will randomly choose individuals based on either employee identification or social security numbers. This method is designed to deter employees from engaging in drug use.
  
  

Results

• When an employee submits to a drug test, the results are considered personal health information. As such, all regulations regarding the release of personal health information should be followed according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), which guarantees privacy of health information with exceptions. Employers typically require that the employee sign a release of information waiver, which gives the company the right to have access to the results of the drug test.