5 Benefits of Pre-employment Drug Testing

Sometimes, employers might be hesitant to ask for a drug test because they think it's offensive to the employee. If you’re an employer wondering whether you need your potential employees to take a drug test before they start working, then these 5 benefits of pre-employment drug tests might help you make up your mind:

1. Prevents workplace injuries. Studies show that employees who use illegal substances are up to four times more likely to suffer or cause accidents. Up to 50% of all worker’s compensation claims turn out to be related to substance abuse one way or another.
2. Increase productivity. Employees who don’t engage in drug use are three times more productive than those who suffer from substance abuse disorders.
3. Decrease absenteeism. According to studies, every employee who engages in substance abuse tends to miss at least eight work days annually.
4. Save money. A study shows that it costs companies about $50,000 to pay for workplace damages caused by an impaired employee. 
5. Improve workplace safety. Prevention is the best way to protect your workspace from the negative effects of having an employee with drug problems.

• Urine testing. Urinalysis is the most common method of testing your employees. It can detect traces of drugs up to 10 days after the substance was used. This method can detect a variety of substances and is very cost-effective. However, there is the risk of the employee substituting their urine sample if they want to hide their drug abuse problem.

• Blood testing. Blood testing is very accurate and can detect any substance. However, it only detects substances minutes to hours after they were used and is a costly method. For these reasons, it is rarely used as a pre-employment test method. Rather, you can request it if you suspect that one of your current employees is using illegal substances at your workplace.

• Oral fluid testing. This test is performed by taking and analyzing a sample of saliva. The advantage of this type of testing is that obtaining the sample is observed by the examiner, making it hard for the employee to cheat. However, the detection period is shorter than that of urinalysis.

• Hair testing. A hair sample is a reliable testing method. However, it doesn’t detect current substance use, and is only suitable for employers who want to avoid hiring people with long-term drug problems. The detection window is about 90 days.