In a study about drug use in the workplace, the retail and construction industries ranked among the highest in the detected use of illegal drugs in the workplace between 2015 and 2017.
The retail trade ranked the highest among all other industries for overall drug positivity rates in the workplace (5.3 percent) and also had one of the highest year-over-year increases in drug positivity, with detected workplace drug use climbing 12.8 percent from 2015–2017, according to the report by Quest Diagnostics.
Marijuana was the most commonly detected drug used in the workplace, according to the report, and its use in the workplace increased 26.7 percent in the construction industry and by 18.5 percent in the retail trade year-over-year.
Methamphetamine positivity was highest in the construction industry for each of the three years analyzed in the report, with its workplace use increasing 15 percent during that time.
Cocaine positivity had the highest jump in the retail trade, increasing 42.9 percent between 2015 and 2017.
"As companies consider strategies to protect their workplaces, they should also consider the risks that employees who use drugs present to their co-workers, customers and the general public," stated Kimberly Samano, a scientific director with Quest Diagnostics. "This new analysis suggests that an increasing number of applicants and employees across various industries may be misusing dangerous drugs."
A 2017 survey by the National Safety Council also found that 71 percent of employers reported being directly impacted by prescription drug misuse in the workplace.
