Pubdate: Mon, 24 Jan 2005
Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ)
Copyright: 2005 Asbury Park Press
Contact:  http://www.app.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26
Author: David P. Willis, Business Writer

UNDER EXAMINATION

Drug Screenings Help Employers Avoid Hiring People With
Substance-Abuse Problems, a Situation That Otherwise Could ADD Up to A
Loss of Productivity and Higher Costs for the Company.

To get a new job these days, it's likely that your next prospective
employer will ask you for a urine sample or even some hair.

Drug tests are becoming prevalent these days.

"Everyone wants to have a safe workplace," said Landa Poianidarocki,
manager at Meridian Occupational Health in Neptune. "Employers invest
a lot in their employees. If the individual has a substance abuse
problem, it will impact on their ability to perform."

Drug users can hurt a company's bottom line. Such workers cost
employers $75 billion to $100 billion annually nationwide in lost
time, accidents, workers' compensation and health care costs,
according to U.S. Labor Department estimates.

They also cause 65 percent of all workplace accidents. And drug users
use 16 times as many health-care benefits and are six times more
likely to file worker's compensation claims than workers who do not
use drugs.

About 60 percent of companies nationally test new hires for drugs,
according to the American Management Association.

More companies have inserted such tests into their hiring process and
have added more drugs, such as Ecstasy, to their testing palette, said
Paul Mladineo, vice president of strategic development for Sterling
Testing Systems, a New York City-based employment-testing company.
Other drugs that are tested for include marijuana, cocaine and
methamphetamines.

A test has been required for full-time employment at Wegmans Food
Markets Inc. for years. "As an employer, we are commited to a
drug-free workplace for our employees and our customers," said Ruth
Ann Virgil, human resources manager for New Jersey.

Last September, the company began to require hair tests, rather than
urine samples. New employees go to a health-care facility for the hair
sample, which consists of snipping a small amount of hair. The hair is
liquefied and tested.

"Over the years, there have been ways developed that people can change
the results of urine tests," Virgil said. "With the hair tests, that
is not able to be done."

These hair tests and a saliva test, which federal agencies are
thinking about adopting, aren't as invasive as urine screenings and
are better able to foil workers' attempts to cheat the system.

"A worker can no longer claim that they got lost or couldn't find the
lab," Mladineo said. "Especially if they need more time to clear
something out."

Poianidarocki has heard of people trying to fake a urine test. "We did
find that someone tried to carry a specimen and left the container
behind," she said. "There are individuals that may try to try something."

In another case, someone sent another person in to take his test, she
said.

But procedures and technology make it difficult. For instance, photo
identification is required to confirm an identity, Poianidarocki said.

The tests are also temperature sensitive.

"People will try to bring other urine with them and pour that into the
cup," said Tracy Merrill, social worker and coordinator of the
employee assistance program at CPC Behavioral Healthcare in
Middletown. "Even if you have it taped to your leg, it is not going to
be the same temperature."

Testers also can determine whether a sample has been tainted. "I think
the technology and the procedures are out there that will help an
employer not get caught by hiring someone" with a substance-abuse
problem, Poianidarocki said.

Drug use by an employee can affect everyone around
them.

"When the person is calling out sick, somebody else has to pick up the
slack," said Mary Anne Ruane, manager of outpatient mental health and
substance abuse services at Riverview Medical Center, Red Bank. "Other
fellow employees may need to cover up for someone who is slacking off,
whether they are coming in late from lunch or coming in late in the
morning." 
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MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPFFLorida)