Northwest construction contractors' substance abuse policies and practices

• Main Author: Creasy, Darryl K.
• Other Authors: Engineering
• Language: en_US
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2013
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/35224

The purpose of this research was to gain information about the incidence of substance abuse in the Northwest construction industry and to characterize contractor company policies and practices being implemented to deter substance abuse among construction workers. The findings show that substance abuse exists on Northwest construction sites. A large percentage of high volume construction contractors (76.9%) in the Northwest perform some type of substance abuse testing. Pre-employment and post accident testing is the most common (90% of the firms) type of drug test required. Union affiliation appears to have no major direct influence on a company's ability to conduct drug testing; however, union affiliation does influence the types of drug tests performed. The consequences of an applicant testing positive for drug use generally means no further employment consideration. For existing employees, testing positive on a drug test will be cause for termination (58% of the firms) or result in a referral to an Employee Assistance Program (29% of the firms). Large construction firms feel that substance abuse is a serious problem within the industry and have more substance abuse deterrence and management policies in place to deal with abusers.