Drug and alcohol testing policies are continually evolving and changing to reflect new state laws, federal regulations, or workplace attitudes. A regular review of your company’s current policy and procedures will help ensure that your company is on track to meet its goals and be legally compliant.

If your policy is no longer delivering value or helping you find employees that will execute your desired goals, it may be time to reevaluate.

Not sure if your policy could use updating?

Here are some indications that it could be time to update your policy:

Medical marijuana hasn’t been discussed

Although an employer is generally allowed to create their own drug testing policy including the right to a drug-free workplace, with changing laws surrounding both medical and recreational marijuana there may be some nuances you should be familiar with. Check out our article talking about testing for marijuana in the workplace today here and consult with your legal team about what guidelines you should follow.

No process is in place to monitor industry standards or changes

After spending so much time and consideration building your drug testing policy, you won’t need to review or update it for several years, right? Wrong! Most drug testing companies advise that you should review your policy at least once a year. Laws are ever-changing and this includes background screening and drug testing laws. Make sure that your policy is up-to-date with your specific state and industry’s standards.

You haven’t recently assessed your testing type or panel

We find that employers sometimes need to change their testing type or panel to best reflect changes within their company or improve their testing process. It’s a learning game and there isn’t necessarily a testing type or panel that is “best”; it depends on what options are most beneficial for your company.

Some examples of cause for change include:

-With the opioid epidemic, many employers have now updated their testing panel to include semi-synthetic opioids (hydrocodone, oxycodone, etc.) or other prescription medications.

-Some employers decide to change testing types to allow on-site testing which can help cut down on time spent for an employee to take a test.

-Other employers have had issues arise with certain drugs they hadn’t previously included in their testing panel which they then added. Or they’ve had a workplace accident occur due to drug use that has prompted them to add things to their testing program such as: reasonable suspicion training for their supervisors and post-accident testing.

At the beginning of this new year we would advise you to take some time reviewing your company’s current drug testing policy. If you have any questions about how adding or changing your current services could potentially benefit your company, please give us a call at the number above or reach out to our support team at mail@blueline-services.com.

The post Is It Time To Update Your Drug Testing Policy? appeared first on Blueline.

Alcohol misuse was the seventh-leading risk factor for premature death and disability globally in 2016; among people between the ages of 15 and 29, it was the number one risk factor with an estimated one in 10 deaths being linked to alcohol consumption.

The authors of this study conducted their research from 1990 to 2016 studying 195 different countries. It is “the most comprehensive estimate of the global burden of alcohol use to date.” With the authors concluding that there is no level of alcohol where the health benefits outweigh the adverse effects and that “alcohol control policies might be need to be revised worldwide.”

Many were shocked to hear the results of this research, especially with numerous studies over the past forty years concluding that moderate alcohol consumption is healthy and could potentially be preventative against heart disease. The Lancet didn’t dispute the heart disease prevention claim, but states that the overall negative effects of any alcohol consumption outweigh any positive effects.

Some argue that “alcohol-related” is a loose phrase that may be connected to accidents or events that are not necessarily directly caused by alcohol consumption. While others are cutting down on alcohol use to avoid the potential negative effects to their health and the shocking statistics printed in this latest study.

Whatever your stance might be on social drinking, it is always a good idea to keep an alcohol and drug free workplace. Despite safety protocols being in place, 40% of all industrial workplace fatalities are caused by employees working under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Good drug testing and education programs have been proven to provide benefits such as:

• Increased morale
• Decreased workplace accidents
• Reduced employee theft
• Increased productivity
• Reduced employee turnover
• Decreased cost of insurance (i.e. worker’s compensation)

If you’re interested in drug and alcohol training for your workplace managers/supervisors or in setting up drug and alcohol testing in your workplace feel free to reach out to us by email (mail@blueline-services.com) or phone (888-919-3278) and we’ll figure out how to best protect your company and employees!

The post Alcohol Named Leading Cause Of Death Worldwide appeared first on Blueline.