b"Real Costs ofAbuse Substance SHARPBy Pam DalyAn India lis firm received aCare Financing Administration napo$52,000 fine for failure to fol estimates that thed al conme icEditor'sSTAUnited, Inc.lowthe comp y'san sequ s of alc l andug Note:an tidrugence oho drhasenteredintoanagreementand a oh misuse preventionabu respective ,yields lc olse,lywith the SHARP Program to pro programcov employees$636millioninin nce eringsuravide a reduced ratefor SHARPwhoperformsafety-sensitiveadministration costs attributed membersondrugand alcoholfunctions.to alcohol and$265million employee tests.It has also pro The FAA,whichfallsun attributed to drug a se. derbuvidedcompliancetrainingD m , propo d finProductivity: Lost productivOTandates secourses toSafety Direc ing anO o contract secu ity in the workplace costs sociSHARPhi rity tors free ofas part of thisvendor $157,000 for failing toety an estim $176 billion in charge,ated agreement.receivenegativep employ 1992 as a r t of p m uAfine followingre- esul re at re heftymentdrugtestresultsordeath andlnessong alcoil amNot only is the a high pricereturn-to-duty drug test resultsuserreto a DOT audit couldhol and drug ab s,as well p forsub a abuseintherequiredforemployeeswhoasassociatedcrim lated ayst ncee-remean financialworkplace,theDepartmentofperformitive duties.costs of abusers and thosein safety-sensT tation (DOT) willadd toDOTpena iesissu bythetreatment.Ane imated $1disaster for someranspor lt edst 07 th costifcompaniesw FederalHigh Administra billion inov all productivity athowayercompanies.employ federally-man work tion (FH ino mon lastlosses is attributable to alcohol datedWA)tw ths ers don't follow the rules when ityear co more than $125,000.abu and $69 b lion isibstseil attrcomesto substancea test Twen -three of the 36 compa ut le toabu . busety ab drugseing.nies that violatedregulaSafety: Not only does a d safetyrugDOT doesn't takeitsregula tio failed to follow substan free w providefinnsceorkplaceantionsona compliantd andabu testingregulations.cial benefitsyour com y, rugseforpanoholestorsndyees,ut alc testingprogramlightly,Penaltiesrangedfrom$1,000inv a emplo b it andit doesn't go light on you ifto $9,900 perpany.alsodrug-free employcom givesees you fail to meetuirements.Armont firmfailed to per aand productive environthe req Ve sate Heresome e form threetypesofrequiredment in whichto succeed. To arexamples: In August of 1999, 78 comtestin anddidn ensurethe e ent that drug a alcohol pa g,otxt nd nieslocatedintheEasternd vers underwent training. Inabu cau workersto p ri seseseradtheil elo veUnited States h 143 federaladdition,company fa ed toformb w thele ls implied violations - 68 of whichprovidestatistical summaries.bytheirwagesorsalawereries, substan ab testing viola Its fine - $9,900.wo itesbearthe costs ceuserks se tions.T largestfine- A heftyfinefollowing a DOTthroughacombinationof he $13,200 - went to aaudit could m finan l disas decreasedprofits,incompanyeancia creased that failed to cond t ra terforsomecomp .Notprodu and service prices, or uc ndomanies ct ra omcontrolled substance testing atknowing the regulations, or failingreduced ove ll c pensation the required annual rate of nottoundersta the importanceoftor all employees at your comnd less than 50 percent. In fact, 33maintaining aiant p gram,pany. compl roof the 68 companies fined forcan jeopardize a co n prof Whether or not your company mpa y's substan abuse testing viola itsprodu vity,well as p maintains a m elective ceandcti asutandatory or tions were fin forfailure toemployees'at risk.program,thecostsassoc ted edsafetyiaimplementa randomtestingIt is overwhelming, but if youwith te arenominalcomsting progr orto con havesafety-sensitiveemployeespared to the fin l risks of am,for failureancia NOT duct the random testing at theregulated u D mandates, ithaving a progr . nderOTamrequired rates of 50 percent foris in your best interestsfollowST nited has been in the drug toAUdrug testing and 1 Ocent forthe rules.andalcoholtestingindu ry for per stalcoh testing. Insurance costs:Health olThe Continuedpage 15 on"