Roundtable Overview

The purpose of The Construction Safety & Drug Abuse Executive Roundtable was to discuss the problem of employee drug use in the construction industry and its devastating effects in the workplace. The event brought together seasoned executives from the construction, insurers, and labor.

• Perini Corp - Roger Bruce, Corporate Safety Director
• Gilbane Building Company - Tony O'Dea, Corporate Safety Manager
• IMPACT, Iron Workers Union - Robert Banks, Eastern Director
• The Facchina Group - Joseph J. Poliafico, Director Risk Management & HR
• AON Risk Services - Glenn Narrow, Senior Risk Control Specialist

The highlights of the discussion are below.



Key Findings

• Drug abuse continues to be wide spread in the construction industry, likely 25% of workforce
• Random drug testing programs are the only effective method to reduce employee drug use.
• Traditional urine testing has serious limitations.
• The number of companies using oral testing will skyrocket
• Drug testing is an important part of any organizations safety and heath programs and is motivated by humanitarian concerns as well as cost issues.

Roundtable Highlights

The costs of drug abuse

• “If you don’t random drug testing, you don’t drug test” (IMPACT / Iron Workers Union)
• “We have no right to autopsy data until a claim is made; however, 40% of fatalities are due to substance abuse.” (AON)
• “Costs associated with accidents, employee theft, rework, workplace violence, and employee turnover represent 100x the cost of an effective drug testing program.” (Gilbane)
• “For the largest construction projects that we handle, drug testing usually cost about $100,000, virtually nothing compared to the cost of the project or potential losses that are possible as a result of not testing.” (AON)
• “A jobsite worker went into convulsions one morning. He just started and was only on the job for a few hours. After transport to the hospital, lab work determined the convulsions were due to cocaine abuse. We had to pay for the ambulance ride in, as the drug test wasn’t going to be administered until noon.” (AON)
• “We are family- like organization. We want to reduce the number of accidents that happen on our worksites for the well being of our workers.” (Gilbane)
• “Zurich or any carrier doesn’t typically give insurance ‘credits’ for drug testing. What you will get is preferential treatment if your program is effective, such as a much lower deductible because you have a lower loss rate, and future lower rates due to improved experience modifiers.” (AON)
• “Drug users will seek out the places that don’t test, I prefer them working for my competitors vs. my company, wouldn’t you?” (Facchina)

Panelists’ experience with drug testing programs

• “If you don’t random drug testing, you don’t drug test” (IMPACT / Iron Workers Union)
• “We have no right to autopsy data until a claim is made; however, 40% of fatalities are due to substance abuse.” (AON)
• “Costs associated with accidents, employee theft, rework, workplace violence, and employee turnover represent 100x the cost of an effective drug testing program.” (Gilbane)
• “The only drug testing implementation problems we have are with TPA’s.” (Perini)
• “When Avitar approached us with an oral fluid test at $24 each, I thought it was too good to be true. We were paying $45-75 for urine drug testing and suffering all sorts of issues. To be sure it worked; we tested everyone with both oral fluid and urine for a few months. We found out that oral fluid testing actually was more sensitive than urine. The urine and oral fluid tests match 99.99%. One test for oral fluid was non-negative and the urine was negative. We asked the lab to recheck the result. We discovered that the urine test did not cover Oxycontin® / Oxycodone, and upon GC/MS testing the Oxycontin was found in the urine also. I am sure most contractors don’t realize the vast majority of urine screens don’t cover synthetic opiates such as Oxycontin. That’s a big problem.” (Facchina)
• “Deterrence is my best tool against drug abuse… employees know that if they test positive they can make no claims…and it works.” (Facchina)
• “An employee was asked - why do you want a copy of your “positive” result. The response was - so that I can get my money back from the people who sold me the stuff that was guaranteed to beat the drug test.” (AON)
• “We are looking for a fast turn around on a drug test. With urine, it can take up to 5 days to get the results.” (Perini)
• “PLA’s (Project Labor Agreement) are a key tool when setting up drug testing programs.” (Perini)
• “Any drug testing program should be equitable. If a senior person tests hot, they receive the same consequences.” (Facchina)

Discussion on challenges to drug testing programs

• “The challenge facing us regarding drug testing is consistency. We would like to drug test everywhere, however, we are limited by laws, owners, subs, and unions in some cases. We’d basically like to follow a standard process of screened, captured, and redeemed.” (Gilbane)
• “Overall we have seen positive rates as high as 30% in construction. We would love to see oral fluid approved by the DOT. While only a small fraction of drug testing DOT regulated, about 2% or less, unfortunately a lot of companies base their drug testing programs on these out-dated regulations. We find it’s the employers and owners that are resistant to change, not the unions.” (IMPACT)
• “The future for standardizing drug testing programs is the PLA. Use it.” (AON)
• “The people fighting against oral fluid testing are the urine drug testing companies. There is a lot of lobbying being done by them in Washington.” (IMPACT/Iron Workers Union)

Drug testing programs

• “Random testing is the only solution to the drug problems we have in construction. If you aren’t random testing, then you aren’t drug testing.” (IMPACT/Iron Workers Union)
• “We are moving to oral fluid because adulteration is a major issue with urine-based testing.” (Perini)
• “We actually feel that doing the testing ourselves on-site give us more control over the drug testing process. If you depend upon a clinic, you can’t control the process.” (Facchina)
• “If there is a new, innovative method that works we are going to try it. That’s why we use oral fluid on-site testing.” (Facchina)
• “The appeal of oral testing is that it’s not degrading and that it detects current use. Other forms of drug testing can actually penalize good workers.” (IMPACT / Iron Workers)
• “Most drug abusers don’t want to work. They want to be out on workers compensation. If you don’t drug test, you are just paying to support their lifestyle.” (IMPACT / Iron Workers)

Unions and drug testing

• “I find unions to be pro-drug testing. Incorporating drug testing into a PLA is not a hard sell. In fact, with the big dig, it was the unions that went to Bechtel and got them to include drug testing.” (IMPACT / Iron Workers)
• “Iron Worker’s is pro-drug testing, all international officers were recently drug tested. Our union has included Oxycontin / Oxycodone in our testing because we know how severe the problem is. Workers snort it, and sooner or later migrate to heroin.” (IMPACT / iron workers)

Excerpts from the Q&A Session:

• Do you include drug testing as a line item on your RFP?
  “It is project dependent.” (Gilbane)
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• In accident situations do you test people other than the injured party?
  “Yes, but only those in the immediate area.” (IMPACT, Facchina)
  “No.” (AON)
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• How many workers do you lose due to drug testing?
  “5%.” (Gilbane)
  “25%.” (Facchina-commenting on previous corporation)
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• How many companies in the audience have a one-strike policy (zero tolerance testing)?
  Two companies raised hands.