TESTING THE WATERS: DRUG TESTS IN WORKPLACE BECOMING COMMON

Area employers increasingly require workers to take drug tests, particularly in the manufacturing industry.

The trend isn't just local, it's nationwide.

The federal government mandates drug and alcohol testing for workers in the transportation industry, including bus drivers, truck drivers, air traffic controllers and pilots.

But many employers in other industries also require drug testing as a condition of employment.

There's good reason for such testing. More than 14 percent of working Americans are heavy drinkers, one study found. Some 70 percent of illegal drug users are employed, federal statistics show.

The result, said Cape Girardeau physician Robb Hicks, is businesses suffer from high rates of absenteeism, poor employee productivity and workplace accidents and injuries.

To combat those effects, drug testing has become more common.

Hick's Immediate Healthcare clinic -- one of several that does drug testing in Cape Girardeau -- has done some 1,600 drug screenings so far this year.

Workers screened include those in the transportation industry and new hires. It's increasingly common for companies to require employees to undergo drug testing in connection with workmen's compensation claims.

Some people even come to the clinic on their own to request a drug test. Many of them have used drugs and have stopped doing so for a period of time in an effort to pass a drug test for employment purposes. A chronic marijuana smoker, for example, can test positive in a urine test as long as 30 days after he or she last smoked a joint, Hicks said.

Some companies also require employees to undergo random drug tests, but it's rare."That is a very smart thing to do because that is where you are going to pick up the problems," said Hicks.

Testing can cost about $50 per person, but Hicks said random drug testing would pay for itself in reducing workplace injuries, employee absenteeism and lost productivity.

In today's tight labor market, some businesses prefer to overlook employees' drug problems because they can't easily replace them, Hicks said.

Still, businesses increasingly see the benefit of drug tests. "It cuts down on their liability," said Lois Soellner, director of operations for MedStop One clinic in Cape Girardeau.

So far this year, the clinic has conducted about 350 drug tests. The clinic does drug testing for about 55 large employers in the area, mostly manufacturing and construction companies in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Perryville and Sikeston.

Clinics screen either from five to 10 types of drugs, depending on what the employer wants.

Urine tests are done to detect everything from alcohol to marijuana, and cocaine to methamphetamine.

Local clinics estimate 2 to 4 percent of the tests come back positive. Most of those reflect marijuana use.

Soellner said many of the workers testing positive at MedStop One used methamphetamine.

The clinics don't do the actual testing. They take the urine samples and then send them to medical laboratories where the samples are screened to detect drugs.

Some clinics send their samples to out-of-state labs. MedStop One sends its samples to Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Much of the testing is done for hiring purposes, said Norman Anderson, the hospital's lab manager.

Few people test positive, but the number likely will increase as companies are forced to hire less qualified people because of the tight labor market, he said.

Drug testing results are reliable for the most part, said Anderson. But there are cases where individuals' legal medications result in their testing positive for illegal drugs.

A medical review officer such as Hicks checks the results to determine their accuracy.

Clinics that take urine samples do their best to see that workers can't cheat. They have special restrooms where the urine samples are taken. The water in the toilet is dyed blue to keep people from doctoring urine samples.t MedStop One, the water to the restroom is turned on or off outside the room, and "they have to empty their pockets," said Soellner.

At PRN Urgent Care in Cape Girardeau, yellow tape covers the toilet tank lid and the water faucets."It's all designed to reduce the chance that a sample could be tampered with," said Jay Wolz, director of business development for PRN Urgent Care.

Each sample is never out of sight of the clinic staff until it is mailed to the lab, he said. Most of the urine samples taken at PRN Urgent Care are sent to a lab in Chicago. Some samples are sent to Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Wolz said the clinic works with five or six different labs, depending on which best suits a particular company.

PRN Urgent Care currently does from 50 to 100 drug screenings a month, he estimated. Some of it is random drug testing.

Most of the businesses have a "one strike and you're out" policy when it comes to workers testing positive for drug use, Wolz said. Other companies require such employees to attend a treatment program and then periodically undergo drug testing after completing the program.

Wolz and others predict businesses increasingly will require workers to take drug tests. Said Wolz, "Employers are feeling a responsibility to provide a safe workplace and a drug-free workplace."