Employee Alcohol Testing

What is motivating various companies and organizations to test for alcohol? Find out why employee alcohol testing is on the increase throughout the United States and what precise considerations are influencing employee alcohol testing in U.S. institutions, companies, and corporations.

And take into account the fact that from a conceptual outlook, most of what applies to employee "alcohol testing" also applies to employee "drug and alcohol testing."

Testing For Alcohol

When thinking about implementing an alcohol testing program, employers do not have unlimited options. In fact, there are essentially five different types of alcohol tests: hair alcohol tests, urine tests for alcohol, blood alcohol tests (also called alcohol blood tests), alcohol breathalyzer tests (also called alcohol breath tests and breath alcohol tests), and saliva alcohol tests.

Why Is Employee Alcohol Testing Increasing?

In various states in the U.S., employee alcohol testing is increasing due to frequently occurring, alcohol-related, on-the-job accidents, injuries, and deaths; to poor production that is alcohol-related; rising workers compensation premiums; and to the "drug-free workplace" movement.

Employee Alcohol Testing and Employee's Privacy Rights

In many respects, employee alcohol testing is a balancing act between addressing and trying to decrease alcohol-related fatalities, violence, injuries, productivity issues, and accidents on the one hand and protecting employees' privacy rights on the other.

Interestingly, whereas some states in point of fact ban employee drug and alcohol testing, others, conversely, do permit drug and alcohol testing if various procedural precautions are put into action. Such safety measures are carried out so that the testing is administered in a way that respects employees' rights of privacy.

For example, the use of closed-circuit cameras is not permitted to monitor relatively intrusive urine and blood alcohol testing procedures.

Requisite Employee Alcohol Testing For On-The-Job Accidents

In some states, employers have set in motion requisite drug and alcohol testing when an on-the-job accident has taken place. If the testing process substantiates that the worker was undeniably under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and that the employee's blood alcohol concentration was .08 grams or greater, in some states like Ohio, neither the employer nor workers compensation is compelled to pay for lost wages or for medical expenses that resulted from the accident.

Stated differently, if you live in Ohio and you incur injuries in an on-the-job accident that was shown to be alcohol-related (at or above the .08 level) and you miss at least four weeks of work from these injuries, in all probability you will not receive any wage compensation for the time you missed either by your employer or by workers compensation.

Not only this, but if you have received medical rehab for these injuries, then again, neither your employer nor workers compensation is obliged to pay for this rehabilitation.

The Underlying principles For Employee Alcohol Testing

Having said this, it is important to ask the following question: why are several employers creating drug-free work environments and implementing alcohol testing in the workplace?

Before listing these "reasons" it is essential to call attention to the fact that the underlying reasons for employee alcohol testing also applies to the larger discussion of "employee drug and alcohol testing." For example, the statement "alcohol tests create a safer work environment," from a wider perspective can be restated to read as follows: "drug and alcohol tests increase worker productivity."

The following list characterizes some of the essential reasons for employee alcohol testing:

• Alcohol tests lessen on-the-job alcohol-related accidents, injuries, and deaths
• Alcohol tests decrease employee sexual harassment
• Alcohol tests decrease employee turnover
• Alcohol tests create a safer work environment
• Alcohol tests lessen employee theft
• Alcohol tests notably upgrade the workforce by weeding out employees who refuse to get alcohol rehabilitation and by eliminating prospective employees via requisite pre-hire drug and alcohol tests
• Alcohol tests increase worker productivity
• Alcohol tests decrease spending due to the fact that worker's compensation offers premiums if employers initiate random drug and alcohol testing
• Alcohol tests lessen employee violence

Employee Alcohol Testing: Conclusion

When considering implementing an alcohol testing program, employers are actually restricted in the number of valid options that are available. In fact, there are basically five different types of alcohol tests: blood alcohol tests (also called alcohol blood tests), alcohol breathalyzer tests (also called alcohol breath tests and breath alcohol tests), hair alcohol tests, saliva alcohol tests, and urine tests for alcohol (or urine alcohol tests).

In many states, employee alcohol testing is escalating due to costly, debilitating, and at times, terminal alcohol-related, on-the-job injuries and accidents; mounting workers compensation premiums; and alcohol-related work inefficiency.

Quite a few drug and alcohol testing facts and statistics accentuate the reasons for more employee alcohol testing by U.S. employers. Moreover, requisite testing for work-related accidents has resulted in instances where workers did not get work compensation or compensation for medical rehab by workers compensation or by their employers when they were tested and found to be under the influence of alcohol (at the .08 or higher lever) during a work-related accident.

It is vital to note that while the focal point of the above discussion was on alcohol testing in the workplace and employee alcohol testing, from a practical view, most of what applies to employee alcohol testing also applies to "employee drug and alcohol testing." Stated more forcefully, the statement "alcohol tests lessen employee turnover" can be expanded to read as follows: "drug and alcohol tests diminish employee turnover."

Finally, due to the fact that alcohol testing is a component of drug and alcohol testing and based on the countless alcohol-related issues that can and do arise in the workplace, employee drug and alcohol testing is likely to continue and possibly increase in the near future.

Extra Information

Finding a quality treatment program can be a difficult process.  This is why we are including the following information.

The following toll-free phone number is a number to a call center/treatment center that we are proudly affiliated with. This treatment facility provides top-quality and professional "holistic" drug and alcohol rehab and counseling that addresses virtually every aspect of the person's life.

There is someone at this phone number 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Please call this number if you have questions about a drug or alcohol problem or if you want some information about quality drug or alcohol treatment. (888) 565-2282