The drug testing industry was valued at $4 billion in 2004 and is expected to grow to $6.3 billion by 2019, that’s a CAGR of 9.5%.
From $4 billion to $6.3 billion. Impressive! But wait, what’s CAGR again?
That’s Compound Annual Growth Rate, for the clueless among us.
With how widespread the practice of drug testing is today, one would think many people would be familiar with “drug-testing-jargon”, but there’s actually a lot more we don’t understand. When people in the know start throwing words around like “CCF”, or “SAP” or “MRO” or “cut-off level” or “reasonable suspicion”, or “GC/MS” etc, the less initiated may feel intimidated enough and simply keep quiet (while secretly rolling their eyes) only to look it up later.
Drug Free Workplace Policies & Programs
Drug testing is widely practiced in law enforcement, schools, government agencies and private workplaces across many industries. The impact of alcohol and drugs on employee performance and the overall safety and productivity in the workplace have driven many employers to establish drug testing policies.
Close to 15 million Americans are drug users, and 70% of them are employed. Faced with these numbers, employers recognize the value of putting in place drug free workplace policies/programs to ensure that the safety and productivity of the workplace is maintained.
Drug testing and pre-employment background screening are an integral component of every drug free workplace program. Medical officers, drug testing services providers, contractors, employers, human resource personnel, safety managers, supervisors and other key employees directly involved in the implementation of these programs should have a more than cursory understanding of what it is all about, beginning with the terminologies used in the industry. It would be their responsibility as well to make sure all other employees and test subjects are given the correct information.
A good starting point for information dissemination would be a glossary of terms frequently encountered when discussing anything related to drug testing, initial screenings and government-related drug policies. It is the hope of the Confirm BioSciences team that the list of terminologies above will help people better understand not just the terms themselves but also the importance of possessing knowledge in addressing the often complicated issue of drugs and alcohol in the workplace.
