Workplace Safety, Risks and Random Drug Testing

Workplace safety is a huge issue and one badtheir operations or based on risk. Remember
accident can cost someone their life, causebusiness insurance is expensive and worker's
catastrophic injury and/or cost the company orcomp is through the roof already. An accident on
corporation millions of dollars. It is for this reasonthe job, one big one, due to druggie employee,
that many employers have instituted mandatorycould cost the company millions in lawsuits and
and random drug testing, as a deterrent toraise worker's comp 25% on that company,
workers using illegal drugs that could affect theirputting them out of business, and everyone loses
judgment or attention to detail when operatingtheir jobs.
equipment or doing dangerous tasks.All these are social issues and philosophical debates
The unions and the ACLU wish to stop theuntil we have employees bringing their intoxicated
mandatory drug testing calling it degrading,minds and bodies to work, where "safety is job
insulting, and unfair. Still, others want to legalizeone" because when something goes wrong
illegal drug use, thus, drug testing is no longer aultimately it truly is the employer who ends up
viable reason for letting someone go or firingfooting the bill. A common sense approach needs
them. Still, this begs the question, what aboutto be considered here, and if the employees feel
workplace safety?that these tests are too intrusive, well they can
My thinking is that the government should notalways get a job somewhere else, as they are
dictate if the employer does tests or not, if thatfree to work anywhere they choose.
employer feels they need to for safety, running