Last updated : November 11, 2024
Every employer would like to think that they care about their employees. There have been many studies done that drug use in general lowers worker productivity, increases sick leave and unexcused absence from the workplace, and even high turnover rates and training cost. But the main reason to drug test is because you care.
Drug Test Because You Care
The previous statistics are of great interest to a business on the bottom line. They are important reasons to reduce your risk of being affected by these factors through the use of mandatory pre-employment and random employee drug testing. What is often not talked about is the fact that employees are a part of our lives often more hours during the day than the families we have at home, and some of these people are literally killing themselves through their use of Oxycodone, Vicodin, Percocet, and other hard core pain killers.
Are Your Employees Killing Themselves?
Almost 40,000 people overdosed on these strong drugs in 2010 alone. While most of the media attention has been directed toward the large casualty lists in such places as Atlanta, GA, with almost 750 deaths that same year, the problem is not sequestered to the inner city alone. Often pain killer addiction starts when a person is taking the medication for an injury and later is unable to wean off of the drugs and instead starts to abuse them and even obtain them illegally.
Don’t Be A Part Of The Problem
One of the most interesting aspects of this special cycle of addiction is that many people addicted to pain killers first started taking them in response to medical treatment for a work related injury. It is precisely the employee that has no previous drug history that is actually most susceptible to introduction to hard narcotics through a workplace injury. Most injured employees submit to drug testing as soon as there is opportunity without risk of further injury. The problem is that very few are also tested after a return to work, post initial drug introduction.
Making sure that work return policies reflect proactive action by helping employees stay clear of possible complications after a work injury is a best practice of HR. Requiring end of treatment follow up testing at the very minimum reduces business risk, and at best, allows the catching of problems early and helping employees overcome the challenges to be able to return to work healthy.
Painkillers Most Commonly Abused
Most abused pain killers are taken in a pill or capsule for and contain opioids, a group of strong pain relief drugs derived from the opium poppy, or are derivatives or semi-synthetic combinations. They interact with the body by blocking pain in the brain by attaching themselves to the opioid receptors and interrupting the messages in the brain the send and receive pain signals. Though usually found in prescription form, the brain activity and sensors affected are the same as when using illicit heroin.
Oxycodone, Vocodin, and Percocet are the most commonly found brands of painkillers most likely to be abused on the market today. A simple and inexpensive test for opioids can perceive the continued use of either of the three and could help save the life of an employee that is destined for painkiller addiction if not for an intervention.
Simple Solutions Save Lives
Whether you’re in Atlanta, GA or Fargo, ND, prescription drug abuse and especially opioid addiction is a reality. Make sure that your business, and your employees do not become the next victims of its destructive snare. Get your employees tested, because you care.
Call us today at 770-627-4500 or email us at [email protected].
