Unfortunately, drug testing is not a legal requirement for most businesses. The restaurant industry, for example, can be riddled with drug use. The last thing you want is the person that’s making or serving your food to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Luckily, there are industries where drug testing is a requirement and is enforced regularly.
These industries tend to revolve around Federal Government jobs and job types where potential injury can put an employer at risk. Drug screens should be done upfront to anyone being considered for a job as well as randomly to ensure a clean and healthy working environment.
Federal Government Jobs
Working for the Federal Government is a privilege and comes with many responsibilities. Having people in a position to make decisions that can affect the masses should be handled with great care and morality. These individuals are in the public eye in many cases and need to set a good example.
Working for an entity that establishes laws for our country or contribute to our political and economic machine should have a sound mind in their work ethic and when making decisions. Defense contractors have very strict policies in hiring it’s personnel. They usually will have extensive background checks and won’t even consider hiring someone that has a history of drug or alcohol abuse.
Retailers
When it comes to the retail industry, it is important for companies to portray a good image to the public. They are selling their goods and services to the people and depend on a clean reputation to maintain a successful business.
If you thought that a certain clothing company had employees that were always drunk or high, would you want to give them your money? In this case, drug testing comes into play because of the image of the company not necessarily for the morality involved.
This may seem to be a backwards way of thinking, but it is for this reason that most retailers will enforce drug and alcohol policies. They depend on their sales and need the support of it’s consumers to want to buy their products and services.
Operating Vehicles or Machinery
Any industry that has heavy machinery or operating a motor vehicle will always have drug and alcohol testing. This is to ensure the safety of the employees but also for the general population as well. There are already established laws against driving under the influence and this overlaps into business as well. A company puts itself at risk by having a job related injury when someone is under the influence.
There is also the risk of damaging a company’s assets and expensive equipment. Making sure that your personnel are capable of operating such equipment is necessary in running these types of businesses. You can’t risk taking a loss due to being negligent to drug and alcohol abuse.
The industries that put these practices into place are either in the public eye or have an immediate risk that could negatively impact business. Some industries can get away without requiring drug screens, but luckily for us, the ones we consider to have greater responsibility will require them.
This article was written by Nick Quinlan. As an content creator for DriverPhysicals.com, Nick is very familiar with the health requirements of many different fields of work. Over the years he has specialized in truck driving and machine operation. To check out more of Nick’s work, take a look at his Google+.