NCJ Number
158429
Date Published
1988
Length
47 pages
Annotation
Prepared by a task force representing business, labor, the community, legal scholars, drug treatment specialists, and experts on occupational medicine and on the laboratory detection of drugs and alcohol, this report examines the limitations and benefits of drug testing in the workplace.
Abstract
The task force concluded that the main motivations of drug testing programs as exemplary. These include the promotion of health, safety, and productivity in the workplace and the referral of impaired employees into treatment. To accomplish these goals, employee drug testing must be performed fairly, accurately, confidentially, and with a minimum of embarrassment to the individual tested. However, some organizations with the best of motives fail to recognize that testing programs can succeed only if they are part of a comprehensive approach to preventing and treating workplace drug abuse. Alcohol must be included in any comprehensive approach, because it is by far the most widely abused drug in the workforce and is also a major cause of impaired safety and performance. Random or universal drug testing, except with respect to carefully defined high-risk positions, should not be used. In addition, testing that is not based on evidence of impairment of job performance or designed mainly to detect and punish illegal drug use without reference to its effect on the workplace raises serious civil liberties concerns. The task force proposes specific guidelines that it believes are sound and can be implemented in a constructive manner. Glossary