An Assessment of Drug Testing within the Construction Industry

Abstract

Drug testing in the workplace has gone from virtual nonexistence to widespread employer acceptance during the past two decades. This growth is particularly significant for the construction industry. High rates of alcohol and other drug use, coupled with the high-risk, safety-sensitive nature of the industry, have prompted the development of a variety of drug surveillance and prevention strategies. Despite this growing vigilance, no scholarly works have examined the impact of drug-related policies in the construction industry. To address this limitation, we investigate the efficacy of workplace drug-testing programs in reducing injury incident rates and workers' compensation experience-rating modification factors (MODs) within the construction industry. Analyses indicate that companies with drug-testing programs experienced a 51 percent reduction in incident rates within two years of implementation. Moreover, companies that drug test their employees experienced a significant reduction in their MODs. Policy implications are discussed in light of the current findings.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs: Results from the 1994 and 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, United States Department of Health and Human Services, Maryland, 1999.

Kaestner

and Grossman

, The Effect of Drug Use on Workplace Accidents, Labour Economics, 5: 3, pp. 267–294, 1998.

Moody

D. E.

Crouch

D. J.

Andrenyak

D. M.

Smith

R. P.

Wilkins

D. G.

Hoffman

A. M.

, and Rollins

D. E.

, Mandatory Post Accident Drug and Alcohol Testing for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S.W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 79–98, 1991.

Lund

A. K.

Preusser

D. F.

Blomber

R. D.

, and Williams

A. F.

, Drug Use by Tractor-Trailer Drivers, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S.W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 47–68, 1991.

Osborn

C. E.

and Sokolov

J. J.

, Drug Use Trends in a Nuclear Power Company: Cumulative Data from an Ongoing Testing Program, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S. W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 69–80, 1991.

Voss

H. L.

, Patterns of Drug Use: Data from the 1985 National Household Survey, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S.W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 33–46, 1989.

Feinauer

D. M.

and Havlovic

S. J.

, Drug Testing as a Strategy to Reduce Occupational Accidents: A Longitudinal Analysis, Journal of Safety Research, 24, pp. 1–7, 1993.

Normands

and Salyards

, An Empirical Evaluation of Pre-Employment Drug Testing in the United States Postal Service: Interim Report of Findings, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S. W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 111–138, 1989.

Blank

D. L.

and Fenton

J. W.

, Early Employment Testing for Marijuana, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S. W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 139–150, 1989.

10.

McDaniel

M. A.

, Does Pre-Employment Drug Use Predict On-the-Job Suitability?, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S.W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 151–168, 1989.

11.

Crouch

D. J.

Webb

D. O.

Peterson

L. V.

Buller

P. F.

, and Rollins

D. E.

, A Critical Evaluation of the Utah Power and Light Company's Substance Abuse Management Program: Absenteeism, Accidents and Costs, in Drugs in the Workplace, Gust

S. W.

and Walsh

J. M.

(eds.), National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maryland, pp. 169–194, 1989.

12.

United States Department of Commerce, County Business Patterns, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1997.

13.

Kahley

and Sornberger

, Experience-Rating and Workplace Safety, National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) Digest, 9: 2, pp. 43–49, 1995.

14.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Internet Availability: http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/uion2.toc.htm Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, D.C., 2000.