West Virginia prepares drug-free workplace legislation

drugs in the workplace. The Drug-Free Workplace Act would allow all private employers, at their option, to implement drug-free workplace programs which include random drug tests without the requirement that random testing be limited to safety sensitive jobs. The statewide chamber will again join several other groups in asking for an intermediary court of appeals. The Act states that: “West Virginians are more likely to die from drug overdoses than people in any other state,according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. In fact, drug overdoses and other poisonings killed more West Virginians than motor vehicle accidents in 2007.” “One in five of the national workforce who die on the job test positive fordrugs or alcohol. As many as 15 percent of all employees in the mining and constructionindustries and one in ten of employees in other industries have admitted to either heavy alcoholor illicit drug use.” Finally, it goes on to note: “A Drug-Free Workplace Act will allow West Virginia’semployers to better manage the problems associated employee substance abuse.” It’s great to see West Virginia placing such a focus on solving the issue of drugs in the workplace, and recognizing the impact that improvements can have. We will keep our eyes open for similar implementations in some other states as we head in to 2012.  ]]>