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Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

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  • #16
    Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

    Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
    Now it seems that SOME of our workplace employees are on Meth! Let's be fair and across the board, let's simply drug test everyone since everybody is suspect now.
    I worked for a music company once that talked about instituting drug testing. Our departmental supervisor said he would support that decision only if we were allowed to choose which drugs we got to test! (FWIW, the policy was never put in place.)

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    • #17
      Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

      One thing they don't talk about is what the consequences of drug testing would be.

      What do you do if 1/4th of your work force tests positive? Fire them immediately? Ask them to nicely train their replacements first and then fire them? Require them to go to drug rehab? Who pays for it? The health insurance company? If so, now the insurance company knows they're drug users. Maybe they raise rates for the entire company. What if you can't get rid of the employee right away? Now you officially have drug users on the payroll. Does the cost of your liability insurance go up too?

      Business owners and department administrators might be tempted to turn a blind eye.
      "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
      "You gotta get me to the tall corn." --David Mamet, Spartan
      "
      Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

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      • #18
        Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

        Originally posted by MyopicJoe View Post
        One thing they don't talk about is what the consequences of drug testing would be.

        What do you do if 1/4th of your work force tests positive? Fire them immediately? Ask them to nicely train their replacements first and then fire them? Require them to go to drug rehab? Who pays for it? The health insurance company? If so, now the insurance company knows they're drug users. Maybe they raise rates for the entire company. What if you can't get rid of the employee right away? Now you officially have drug users on the payroll. Does the cost of your liability insurance go up too?

        Business owners and department administrators might be tempted to turn a blind eye.
        Some businesses and unions who care about the safety of workers already do drug testing at various work sites. Those who "care" will send home the unsafe [ie drugged] worker on-the-spot, but also offer medical benefits that cover drug treatment. Getting an unsafe worker to clean up, get safe (to protect them and the others that must work around them), and get back to work is in the best interest of businesses.

        Well, for trained or experienced workers, that is. Entry level workers, or unskilled workers, probably are easily replaceable by the company. And, employers are not really that invested in unskilled and/or short-term workers, and not likely to want to pay the premiums for medical coverage that included rehab.
        Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

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        • #19
          Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

          Originally posted by MyopicJoe View Post
          True, but it can take a painfully long time for them to leave, especially if they avoid pissing off the people with power, or if they're protected by say union contracts.
          Matter of fact, some unions have testing positive for illegal drug usage being grounds for immediate dismissal from a job. But, not all unions are created equal. Unfortunately, some are more concerned with the status of the "Union Leadership" than with the actual "Union Members". Meanwhile, well run unions include ways of helping its valued members, such as including drug rehab as a benefit.
          Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

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          • #20
            Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

            Originally posted by MyopicJoe View Post
            What do you do if 1/4th of your work force tests positive?
            Interesting question, but we need to look back as the source of this information - a drug testing service. As such, I suspect the "statistical sampling" is seriously skewed.

            Are these workers who were referred because they were suspected of being drug users? Or was this just routine testing which is normally done for a specific line of work? How does Hawaii's laws/practices for drug testing differ from other states? (That is, does Hawaii test or not test certain segments of the workforce that can skew the results?)

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            • #21
              Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

              http://www.questdiagnostics.com/empl...011_09/dti.pdf

              Here's some excerpt stats from the actual report:

              It examines positivity rates — the proportion of positive results for each drug to all such drug tests performed — among three major testing populations: federally mandated, safety-sensitive workers; the general workforce; and the combined U.S. workforce.
              Annual Positivity Rates – Urine Drug Tests
              (For Combined U.S. Workforce)
              (More than 6 million tests from January to December 2010)
              1988 13.6%
              2010 3.5%
              This is for all drugs. Look at the DROP in the past 20 years, from 13% down to 3.5%! Of course, THAT does not make the news!

              Positivity Rates By Testing Reason – Urine Drug Tests
              (For General U.S. Workforce)
              For Cause 26.9%
              Random 5.3%
              GeckoGeek might be on the right track, if a quarter of the tests were done "for cause", indeed that might be skewing the stats. Some other reasons for testing were "followup" and "return to duty". Perhaps not exactly a non-biased selection of who was tested?

              Positivity Rates By Drug Category – Urine Drug Tests
              (For Combined U.S. Workforce, as a percentage of all such tests)
              (More than 6 million tests from January to December 2010)
              Overall 3.5%
              Amphetamines 0.58%
              Marijuana 1.7%
              Oxycodones 1.0%
              Interesting look at the types of drugs and percentages that make up the total of 3.5% postives. See Table 7 for the full list.
              Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                I agree with Amati had to say because that is how it was at my place of employment. We had random drug testing and when a person tested positive they were enrolled into Castle Hospital's rehab program and would be there for month. If they successfully completed the program they were returned to work at the same postion and were put on a year of random drug testing. There was no limit to the drug testing it could be daily, weekly, monthly, whatever. Following that year a postive test would mean immediate termination. Our medical plan also provided a preson with a number they could call if they felt they needed help and it would be done in confidentiality unless the medical provider felt the person was at the point where he was putting himself or others at risk at which point the company would be notified. All of this was agreed to with the union and almost all the members had no problem with it. Of course we still lost a few members but at least it was one thing that union and the company really worked together on.

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                • #23
                  Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                  Originally posted by mel View Post
                  Another dubious honor for the state among other honors such as "largest tax burden", "high cost of living", "hostile business climate", "worst traffic", etc.
                  ditto that.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                    Originally posted by mel View Post
                    Another dubious honor for the state among other honors such as "largest tax burden", "high cost of living", "hostile business climate", "worst traffic", etc.
                    Ah yes, but at the same time, don't forget the honor that GeckoGeek just pointed in another thread (Hawaii gets 2 listings), "10 most fun, affordable U.S. cities".
                    http://hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=19679
                    Stats can be twisted any direction you want. It's not all bad, to some writers.
                    Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                      Look on the bright side. Every state has meth addicts. At least our meth addicts have jobs.


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                      • #26
                        Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                        Originally posted by zff View Post
                        Look on the bright side. Every state has meth addicts. At least our meth addicts have jobs.
                        Yeah! They could have instead given it a positive spin in the heading: Hawaii's Meth Addicts Are Most Employed in the Nation ... or something like that.
                        Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                          Thanks Amati & D'Alani for your first hand accounts of union policy and practices. Good point, GeckoGeek, about stats being skewed based on how the samples were taken.

                          Food for thought
                          Last edited by MyopicJoe; September 8, 2011, 09:33 PM.
                          "By concealing your desires, you may trick people into being cruel about the wrong thing." --Steven Aylett, Fain the Sorcerer
                          "You gotta get me to the tall corn." --David Mamet, Spartan
                          "
                          Amateurs talk technology, professionals talk conditions." --(unknown)

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: Hawaii #1 in work place meth use

                            Originally posted by zff View Post
                            Look on the bright side. Every state has meth addicts. At least our meth addicts have jobs.


                            True, but look at how many people who aren't meth addicts don't have jobs and need them badly in this economy- due to layoffs, downsizing, etc. Just something to think about.

                            Can't think of anything creative this time

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