Pubdate: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 Source: Kingsport Times-News (TN) Copyright: 2006 Kingsport Publishing Corporation Contact: http://gotricities.net/domains/timesnews.net/lettertoEditor.dna?action=new Website: http://www.timesnews.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1437 Author: Rick Wagner Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) TENN. BUSINESSES DOING MORE DRUG TESTING KINGSPORT - Drug and alcohol testing by businesses is up in Tennessee, thanks at least in part to a state program with financial incentives that cut workers' compensation costs. Tennessee's Drug-Free Workplace Program in fiscal 2005-06 reported 5,891 participating employers, up 1,861 from the 2004-05 employer participation of 4,030, according to state Department of Labor and Workforce spokeswoman Milissa Reierson said. "It's a good program. It does affect employees," said John Leonard, vice president of Kingsport-based Armstrong Construction Co. Inc. and a supporter of business drug testing. "We've positioned our (drug-testing) program to comply with that (state) program," said Chris Correnti, general counsel for AFG Industries Inc. "We've had drug testing policies for a number of years." Eastman Chemical Co. does not participate in the state program, according to spokeswoman Betty Payne. However, Eastman has a rigorous program nationwide and "where permitted by law" makes every employee "subject to a random drug/alcohol testing program," according to a statement from the company. "Refusal to participate in requested testing is considered the same as a positive test," Payne said. The company also requires pre-employment screening, which must be negative for someone to be hired; does "reasonable cause" tests; can require post-on-the-job accident tests; and requires tests of those who have gone through drug or alcohol rehabilitation "at least once every three months for a minimum of one year" in addition to the random tests. Except for the random testing, which is optional under the state plan, and post-job accident tests that are mandatory, AFG and Armstrong and others certified in the state program have programs similar to Eastman Chemical. Businesses in the program, which as of April 25 included Kingsport Publishing Corp. that operates the Kingsport Times-News, receive a 5 percent discount on workers' compensation insurance premiums. "They get a statutory discount on workers' compensation premiums on the front end," said Jim Farmer, Nashville-based director of the Tennessee Drug-Free Workplace program that began in 1998 after the Tennessee General Assembly enacted legislation to approve it. But the program also makes positive test result just cause for termination, and it shifts the burden of proof in cases where an employee has an on-the-job accident and workers' compensation claim, Farmer said. In such cases, the employee must be drug tested. If the test comes back positive, the employee must prove that did not cause or contribute to the accident. Otherwise, the company would have the burden of proof, Farmer said. Leonard said he has seen that happen. In those situations, the employee receives initial workers' compensation coverage for injuries but that the insurance company can later seek repayment for that care from the employee who tested positive. To participate in the state program, businesses must do drug testing of employees for pre-employment, under reasonable suspicion and after on-the-job accidents. In addition, if an employee remains with a company after a positive drug test, he or she must undergo a follow-up test after treatment or rehabilitation. Armstrong, whose clients include Eastman Chemical, goes a step further and does random drug testing, which is allowed but not required. Leonard said that sometimes an employee will have a clean pre-employment test, have no accidents but then be caught by a random test. "Nine times out of 10, they say, 'Yeah, you're right,' and we shake hands and part company," Leonard said. "For us, it's pretty cut and dried." Leonard said since he's joined Armstrong in 1999, none of the terminations from positive drug tests have resulted in legal action against the company. However, the program's Web site said legal action is possible, although state and U.S. law generally side with firings when it comes to drug testings. In contrast, in northern neighbor Canada, Alberta Justice Sheilah Martin ruled in late June that a construction company discriminated again an employee, John Chiasson, when it fired him after a pre-employment drug test showed traces of marijuana. The judge ruled the man should have been treated as someone with a disability - drug addiction - not fired. Accurate? Farmer said that the drug tests used today are accurate and result in few false positives. The "poppy seed muffin" episode of the 1990s "Seinfeld" television show was based on the truth that drug tests at that time could come back positive from eating poppy seeds. But it was for morphine, not marijuana as the show indicated. However, Farmer said that the new rules increased the allowable level from 300 nanograms per milliliter of morphine to 2,000 nanograms per milliliter of morphine. Some prescription and possibly non-prescription drugs can be detected by drug tests. That's why Farmer said the program requires a medical review officer to gather information about what legal prescriptions a person is taking that could result in a positive result. For instance, if a person is taking Tylenol with codeine as prescribed and it shows up that way in the test, the MRO will deem the test negative. A whole cottage industry of sorts is on the Internet, where businesses that claim masking agents or cleansers can either mask drug use or cleanse the body of any chemical signs. "These people who operate these Web sites are pretty smart people," Farmer said. "There are more of these systems that don't work than do." He said the idea of powdered urine - just add warm water - would be impossible to pass off as real urine as long as people aren't allowed to bring it into the bathroom with them. "At the collection site, employees must leave coats, purses and briefcases outside the cubicle where they provide the specimen," according to the state drug-testing program's Web site. "The person collecting the specimen adds a bluing agent to the toilet bowl and remains in the area directly outside the stall while the specimen is being given. Immediately afterward, the collector applies a temperature strip to the specimen to make sure that it matches body temperature. The collector also checks the specimen for unusual color and odor. Later, when the specimen arrives at the laboratory, technicians perform simple tests for gravity and acidity to detect adulterated specimens." The testing protocol and standard, as outlined beginning in Tennessee Code Annotated 50-9-100, is based on U.S. Department of Transportation drug testings. It follows the federal chain of custody procedures. The main difference, aside from some technical issues in how the testing is done, is that the DOT also requires random testings, which is optional in the state program. The state program relies solely on urine tests, although other forms of drug testing include hair tests, which with longer hair can detect drug use going back further in time, and swabs of the mouth, like those used in some DNA testing. Worthwhile? The cost of the testing runs $25 to $65 per test, based on the volume of testing done and location, according to Farmer. Leonard said the testing costs Armstrong about $35 to $45, money he said is well worth it to save on the workers' compensation premiums up front and after an accident by an employee who tests positive. An article in the July 7 Time magazine titled "Whatever Happened to Drug Testing?" reported that drug testing nationwide is on the wane, as are positive test results. The article said that Quest Diagnostics, a "dominant player in the more than $1.5 billion a year drug testing field," reported positive tests had gone from 13.6 percent in 1988 to 4.1 percent in 2005, a decrease Quest attributed to the deterrent of drug testing. However, the magazine also said that the American Management Association reported that the number of employers with drug testing programs fell from 81 percent in 1996 to 62 percent in 2004. Farmer said he wasn't aware of such a national decrease but cited information on the Tennessee Drug-Free Workplace program Web site that 90 percent of large businesses have drug-free workplace programs in place, while only 5 percent to 10 percent of small- and medium-sized businesses have implemented similar programs. "The irony here is that about 75 percent of employed Americans work for these small- and medium-sized businesses," the Web site said. "Workers who want to avoid substance abuse policies at the large companies take their job search to the smaller businesses, and that's where they are today!" Drug abuse drains more than $100 billion from American businesses every year according to "Working Partners," National Conference Proceedings Report: sponsored by U.S. Dept. of Labor, the SBA, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The study found that: 38 percent to 50 percent of all workers' compensation claims are related to substance abuse in the workplace and substance abusers file three to five times as many workers' compensation claims. Substance abusers incur 300 percent higher medical costs than non-abusers. Substance abusers are 2.5 times more likely to be absent eight or more days a year. Substance abusers are one-third less productive. It costs a business an average of $7,000 to replace a salaried worker. The magazine article, in stark contrast, said employment experts "say there has been virtually no research indicating that drug tests improve safety or productivity on the job." It also cites the "so-called Firestone Study," which the magazine says was a 1972 speech given to lunching Firestone Tire and Rubber executives by an advocate for helping employees overcome problems like alcoholism. It said the "study" never cited statistics. In addition, the American Civil Liberties Union, in a 1999 study, found that the federal government in 1990 spent $11.7 million to find 153 drug users among almost 29,000 employees tested, a cost of $77,000 per positive test. Still, Farmer said he stands behind Tennessee's drug-testing program and its benefits. "I tell companies they can't afford not to do it," Farmer said of the benefits of drug testing vs. not drug testing. For more information on the Tennessee Drug-Free Workplace program, go to http://www.state.tn.us/labor-wfd/dfwp.html#theprob or call Jim Farmer at (800) 332-2667. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman