Drug Free Zone
Drug testing of employees is increasingly popular in the states, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.
Kevin Brodsky, president of Buchanan Brodsky Enterprises Inc, a Florida based company that operates 19 car deal partnerships and has a staff numbering approximately 1,000, has made testing a core element of his business. Brodsky became suspicious after the standard urine testing of staff was not getting any results. He hired an agency, Global Detection & Reporting Inc to examine offices.
Global Detection is different because it uses a new drug wipe, which involves brushing desks, monitors, telephones, kettles, with a tool that resembles a home-pregnancy testing kit. The person Brodsky chiefly suspected of using drugs, who worked in finance, was shown to have traces of cocaine in his office. The man confessed and Brodsky sent him on a rehabilitation programme, and later rehired him to work in sales.
Brodsky bought the drug wipe kit for himself. Once a week he calls the reformed employee into his office and, just to ensure there haven’t been any lapses, he rubs the tip of the drug wipe tool across the employee’s forehead.
“We’re going to cut this off at the pass,” says Hugh Sides, the company’s chief executive. “We would like to be able to say that we have a drug-free environment.”
Why the sudden increase and demand for extra testing of staff by employers in the states? It’s a response to the Sept 11 2001 terror attacks, of course.
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