Last decade, positive drug tests among U.S. workers for methamphetamine had started to drop. That trend may be reversing, with positive rates dramatically higher in some states compared to others.
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Tags: amphetamines, cocaine, drug testing, Hawaii, methamphetamine, Quest diagnostics
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) appears to be sending a message to employers: You can’t automatically refuse to hire applicants who test positive for methadone, a medication prescribed in drug treatment programs for recovering opiate addicts.
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Tags: ADA, EEOC, methadone, recovering addict, safety sensitive job
What if you could predict which employees would cost your company more in workers’ comp?
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Tags: drug or alcohol abuse, integrity tests, lying, violence, Workers' comp
In denying a petition to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) cited workplace safety as a factor in its decision.
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Tags: Drug Enforcement Administration, medical marijuana, zero tolerance
One of the largest states in the nation, with some of the highest workers’ comp costs, has a new law intended to cut businesses a break.
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Tags: carpal tunnel syndrome, doctors, drunk workers, fraud, Illinois, Workers' comp
Even if your company isn’t in transportation, some items on the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Most Wanted List of 10 safety issues are easily applicable to all sorts of industries.
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Tags: fatigue, i2p2, Most Wanted List, NTSB, safety management systems
Fact: 16 states and Washington, DC, have laws that allow the medical use of marijuana for patients with fatal diseases or chronic pain. What’s not as clear: How these laws impact workplace drug policies. Now, another state court has weighed in.
Tags: medical marijuana, TeleTech, Washington state, workplace drug policies
An applicant failed his pre-employment drug test and wasn’t hired. Years later, following successful drug treatment, he applied again, only to be told he wouldn’t be hired because of a one-strike rule.
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Tags: ADA, discriminate, drug test, drug treatment, one-strike
Soon after smartphones became popular, their owners downloaded apps to check traffic reports and avoid tie-ups. Now the phones are providing more real-time traffic information that some say may make driving less safe.
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Tags: Buzzed, DUI checkpoints, PhantomAlert, smartphone apps, Trapster
Last year we told you the story of an employee who was mauled by a grizzly in a bear park after having smoked pot. The employee received workers’ comp. The employer appealed to the state’s highest court, which has issued a ruling.
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Tags: in the course of his employment, marijuana, mauled by grizzly, pot smoking, Workers' comp
Sixteen states now have medical marijuana laws. A Wal-Mart employee, fired after a positive post-injury drug test for marijuana, says his dismissal violated one of those state laws.
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Tags: drug test, medical marijuana, unlawful termination, Wal-Mart
As the drug-testing industry has developed more tamper-proof sampling methods, positive results for employee drug use have gone up.
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Tags: drug testing, heroin, oral fluid testing, Quest diagnostics, urine test
Next year, a 16th state will enact regulations allowing use of medical marijuana. Even though these laws are becoming more prevalent, questions regarding users and workplace safety remain.
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Tags: Arizona, court battles, medical marijuana
Scenario: One of your employees is taking a legally prescribed medication and works with machinery that has the potential to maim or kill. The label on the medication warns against driving or operating machinery while taking the drug. What do you do?
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Tags: drug testing, Dura Automotive Systems, prescribed medications, Quest diagnostics, Workers' comp
New statistics about employee drug use are out, and they show an increase in usage of some drugs. Is it marijuana, cocaine, crack?
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Tags: employee drug use, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodones, prescription opiates, Quest diagnostics
A worker uses questionable judgment while using heavy equipment. He’s seriously injured, and a test shows he used illegal drugs. The employee applies for workers’ comp. Does he get benefits?
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Tags: heavy equipment, impaired, marijuana, workers' compensation
Business groups are lining up against a measure that would legalize marijuana in California.
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Tags: California pot law, California Proposition 19, Chamber of Commerce, impair job performance, marijuana
Law enforcement officials say driving under the influence of legal drugs is an increasing problem.
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Tags: driving under the influence, impaired drivers, legal drugs
A company decided to take back a conditional offer of employment after it found the applicant was a recovering drug addict. A lawsuit followed.
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Tags: conditional offer of employment, drug test, drug treatment, methadone, safety threat
Do you require employees in safety-sensitive jobs to report whether they use certain prescription medications? You may want to pass this story along to them as a reminder why it’s so important that they comply with your company’s policy.
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A worker at a bear park smoked pot before coming to work where he fed grizzlies. The worker was seriously injured by one of the bears. A workers’ compensation judge called that “mind-bogglingly stupid.” But did the judge rule the worker was entitled to workers’ comp?
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Tags: marijuana, mauled by grizzly, pot smoking, Workers' comp
Marijuana is now legal as a prescription painkiller in 14 states. But what if you have a drug-free-workplace policy?
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Tags: drug-free workplace, medical marijuana, prescription painkiller
Imagine this: A company just recently ended a policy from 1847 that allowed its workers to drink as much beer on the job as they liked. The workers are upset, and they went on strike.
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Tags: beer, Carlsberg brewery, policy change
A worker involved in a crash with a workplace vehicle claims his status as a medical marijuana user should exempt him from discipline.
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Tags: discipline, drug impairment, medical marijuana, vehicle crash
A worker tests positive for PCP right after he’s injured. Is he still able to collect workers’ comp benefits?
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Tags: drug use, injured worker, lifting injury, Workers' comp
What do you do with employees who have a history of injuries? Fire them and they may sue, but leave them on the job and they might harm themselves or others.
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Tags: fitness for duty, history of injuries, safety-sensitive jobs
The Transportation Department will require direct observation collections for all return-to-duty and follow-up drug tests for transportation workers in safety-sensitive jobs.
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While a judge on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor disagreed with two fellow judges who ruled an employer could set safety standards higher than what the government required.
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Tags: EEOC v. J.B. Hunt, prescription medication and driving, Sonia Sotomayor
New regulations; accidents with multiple fatalities; the President-elect’s take on what OSHA should be doing. What is the top safety story of 2008?
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Tags: new regulations, Obama, OSHA, top 10
New data show that pre-employment drug screenings alone may not be enough of a deterrent for workers.
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Tags: pre-employment drug screenings, Quest diagnostics, random drug testing
A worker suffered a serious workplace injury and was taken to the hospital for treatment. While there, he was drug tested. The test was positive for methadone, a drug used to treat narcotic withdrawal and dependence.
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Imagine this: Your company faces a lawsuit because an employee caused an off-work car accident. The injured people claim the employee’s long work hours helped cause the accident.
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Imagine this: One of your employees is on pain medication that could compromise his safety and productivity, as well as that of co-workers. But, because of state law, you have to accommodate the employee. Not only that, but federal law says the pain medication is illegal.
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Tags: accommodate, drug test, medical marijuana, pain management, terminate
The city of Montreal, Canada, has shown that it takes drinking — or even just carrying — alcohol on the job while using city equipment very seriously.
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Tags: alcohol, breathalyzer, fired
Does your company require employees to pass drug tests? Now, there’s one less product on the market to help them cheat.
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Tags: court, drug tests, transportation, Whizzinator
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