Drug testing of workers rising

AFTER LAING O'Rourke, the construction group, carried out 1,270 random drug tests last year, it promptly sacked 115 employees because traces of cannabis or cocaine were found in their blood.

Workplace drug testing has become routine in safety-critical industries in developed countries, where lives could be put at risk by drug-impaired employees. In the US the practice is widespread and almost 70 per cent of testing in the world takes place there.

But in the past five years it has also captured the interest of other, less safety-critical sectors in the UK and Europe. Employers increasingly believe that performance at work can be affected by what people do in their own time.

Chris Evans, technical director of Drug Aware, a Derby-based drug testing and consultancy business, says: "There has been a near-revolutionary culture shift in terms of the amount of testing being done and the willingness to look into it. Many companies are now looking at it as a measure to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism, as well as other factors including safety, which remains key."

Drug testing companies have traditionally served two main markets - medical and criminal justice - but the workplace accounts for an ever larger share of sales.According to a major survey carried out last year, 22 per cent of UK employers test employees for drug and alcohol use, either randomly or when hiring new recruits. A further 9 per cent were planning to introduce testing.

According to the same survey, 31 per cent of employers had dismissed at least one person because of alcohol abuse in the past two years and 15 per cent because of drug problems.

Fiona Begley, chief executive of Concateno, the UK's largest drug and alcohol testing company, says the market is being driven by increasing regulation and fear of litigation. Corporate manslaughter legislation in the UK has made those who control a company potentially liable for manslaughter if they operate in a way that results in deaths as a consequence of business practices.

Demand for Concateno's services is coming from US banks based in the UK (for their customer service and call centres) and from utility companies, she says. In the UK the market is worth about £50-£70 million (€64-€89 million) and globally it is valued at about £1.5 billion, according to Ms Begley.

The use of drug testing may also be boosted by technological advances. Testing equipment can now quickly detect a range of drugs in saliva. A quick swab in the mouth and a handheld machine can pick up traces of cannabis, heroin, cocaine, morphine or amphetamines. The results are given within five minutes.

But the practice remains controversial in the UK. Critics charge that outside safety-critical areas, employers are using the tests simply to control and monitor staff.

A 2004 report by the Independent Inquiry on Drug Testing at Work found a lack of evidence to link illicit drug use and accidents at work, absenteeism, low productivity or poor performance.

Financial services companies have largely eschewed drug testing, say industry observers. While many companies test people at the recruiting stage, random drug tests are rare.

"The financial services industry would be a lucrative source of business but the reality of [ the] situation is that they largely do pre-employment testing. How many trading desks would exist if we were to test randomly?" asks one drug testing industry executive.

Across the Atlantic, where most workplace drug testing takes place, perceptions and practices differ drastically. Robert Tomaso, partner and employment law specialist at the US law firm Husch Blackwell Sanders, says there are legal reasons for this.

"Employment at will, which is the default law in most jurisdictions, means a company can discharge an employee for good reason, bad reason or no reason at all."

That is tempered, however, if there is a union involved. Only about 10 per cent of private sector employees have unions. "Given the general setting of employment at will, it is certainly easier to implement a drug testing policy in the US," Mr Tomaso says.

In the UK, however, substance testing remains difficult to implement in spite of employers' interest. Businesses may have a duty to ensure a safe working environment, but employment tribunals are required to interpret legislation in the light of the Human Rights Act, which gives individuals the right to a private life and "bodily integrity".

So while British employers may want to crack down on staff following a workplace drug test, their hands may be tied: firing an employee following a random screening could be deemed unfair dismissal.

NorfolkLine Ferries has had a drug and alcohol testing policy in place for more than 10 years. The company has 430 onshore employees and 800 people on vessels on rolling rotas.

"We have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol for our vessel-based employees. The shore-based employees are subject to random drug testing but can drink to the legal driving limit," the company says. On average, it says, it dismisses fewer than five people a year for failing such tests.

But there is a policy of self-referral in place, which means that employees who worry that they might fail a future test can sign up to therapeutic programmes to help them with drug or alcohol issues at the company's expense.