If you’re a business owner or manager in Perth or Western Australia and don’t conduct drug testing in your workplace, you should be asking yourself why.
My employees don’t have drug issues
Ignorance is one of the main reasons why businesses don’t conduct drug testing and don’t take the time to implement a drug and alcohol management plan. They’re either not aware how widely drugs are used or naively believe that none of their employees have issues with drugs. So let’s put this this myth to bed:
• More than 10% of Australians have used cannabis in the past 12 months.
• The rates for cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamines are lower but still worrying at 2%, 2.5% and 2.1% respectively.
• In Western Australia, the usage rates of methamphetamines, including ICE are much higher. Around 3.8% of Western Australians have used meth in the past year. Recent research conducted in Perth, Bunbury and Geraldon has shown that we consume around 2 tonnes of meth a year, with a street value of $2 billion.
• Around 2% of people have admitted to going to work under the influence of drugs. You don’t need to be mathematician to realise that in an average workforce of 100 people, that’s 2 employees who have attended work under the influence.
• Australians have around 2.5 million sick days a year due to the misuse of drugs or alcohol.
• Globally, drugs or alcohol are a factor in approximately 15% of work-related injuries.
• On our roads, drugs are becoming more of an issue than alcohol, with the ratio of positive drug tests easily outstripping the ratio of positive alcohol tests.
Drug testing is expensive
As well as a lack of awareness and naivety of how widespread drug usage is, another reason many businesses don’t conduct drug testing is the perceived cost.
Developing a drug and alcohol management plan, educating your employees about the risks of drugs and alcohol, providing support to employees with issues and conducting drug and alcohol testing does take resources. And whether you use internal or external resources, there will be a substantial cost.
However, you also need to consider the benefits. By implementing a robust and effective drug and alcohol management plan, including drug testing Perth, a business can improve safety, increase the moral of their employees and increase productivity.
In dollar terms alone, how much would your business save if you could reduce sick days caused by drugs and alcohol misuse by 20%? How much money could your business make by increasing productivity by 5%? How much money would your business save if you could reduce the number of accidents and injuries by 10%?
Look at the research and do the sums and you’ll soon understand why drug testing, as part of an overall drug and alcohol management plan, is a business imperative.
NOTE: Integrity Sampling conducts drug testing in Western Australia and has branches in Busselton, Dampier, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Perth and Port Hedland.
