Pubdate: Tue, 23 Aug 2005
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA)
Copyright: 2005 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact:  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Author:  Susan Miller
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

SOME COSTLY MISHAPS AVOIDABLE

At a recent brainstorming session with fellow Ledger folks, the
business editor posed a question. From my experience in being a small
business owner and working with small business owners, what is the most
dreaded and horror-filled moment a business owner could face?

I guess he expected me to need to think about it, but my answer was
front-and-center the instant he asked. It was a phone call back in
1990 or so telling me an employee had fallen from a scaffold and was
being taken to the hospital. If you have ever experienced such a
moment, it's a moment you will never forget. It's a moment when you
would prefer bankruptcy over the news you have just been given.

As an employer, it's your responsibility to provide as safe a working
environment as possible. Accidents will and do happen, but there is a
vast difference between avoidable and unavoidable mishaps. While each
can be devastating, to know that you could have taken precautions to
avoid such an incident is hard to overcome.

Sometimes, company property is the only injured party, such as a
wrecked truck, stripped gears on a forklift or poor maintenance and
mishandling of expensive power tools or office equipment. Not to
worry. Time and money will take care of those things, right?

Other times, the employee under the influence of drugs causes harm to
himself or herself. Safety procedures may be forgotten, or just not
followed, when an employee is not thinking clearly.

But the worst-case scenario is when an impaired employee causes an
innocent co-worker's injury. These types of accidents range from being
run over, to poorly shelved merchandise falling on someone, to
something as simple as a "wet floor" sign not being set up.

If yours is not a drug-free workplace, then you are putting yourself
and your employees at risk. Think you won't have any employees left if
you institute such a policy? Think again. The employees you do have
left, and proceed to hire, will be safer, more productive and, in most
cases, grateful. Your chronic users will be caught and forced to move
on with their bad habits, and your casual users will realize it's time
to make a choice.

Workers' compensation claims are filed when there is a workplace
injury. According to the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services,
38 percent to 50 percent of all workers' compensation claims are
related to substance abuse, and substance-abusing workers are 3.6
times more likely to be involved in on-the-job accidents.

Furthermore, because workers' compensation claims are so closely
associated with drug-related incidents, establishing a certified
drug-free workplace scores you a 7.5 percent credit on your annual
workers' compensation insurance premiums. That's no small change for
many businesses, whose insurance expense is sometimes their
second-highest line item after salaries.

Establishing a certified drug-free workplace is not only a smart thing
to do, it's not difficult.

Not only can accidents and injuries create severe hardships for its
victims, they can shut down a small business in an instant. As the
employer, you are the first line of defense in protecting your most
important asset, your employees. Establishing a drug-free workplace is
the first step you can take to avoid a potential tragedy in your workplace.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin