Worker Drug Use and Workplace Policies and Programs: Results from the 1994 and 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse

5.3 Establishment Size and Drug Use Testing Programs

Figure 5.2 shows the frequency of drug testing programs at small, medium, and large organizations. Detailed estimates are presented in Table 5.1.

Employees at workplaces with large establishment sizes reported more frequently that each of the workplace testing programs was conducted at their establishments than those at small or medium-size establishments.

In 1997, about three-fourths (73.6%) of the employees in the large establishments reported that their workplace had at least one type of workplace testing program; slightly more than half (57.5%) of the employees in the medium-size establishments reported at least one type of workplace testing program; but only slightly more than one quarter (27.5%) of the employees in small-size establishments reported that their workplace had at least one type of workplace testing program.

Figure 5.2 Percent of Full-Time Workers, Age 18 - 49, Reporting Workplace Drug Testing Programs, by Type of Program and Establishment Size, 1994 and 1997

Small Establishment (1 -24 Employees)

Medium Establishment (25 - 499 Employees)

Large Establishment (500 or More Employees)

Between 1994 and 1997, the percentage of full-time workers, age 18-49, reporting various testing programs increased significantly. There were only two exceptions: first, the proportion of employees in medium and large establishments reporting testing upon suspicion did not increase significantly between 1994 and 1997; second, although a larger proportion of employees in medium and large establishments reported that their employers conducted drug testing at hiring in 1997 than in 1994, these increases were not found to be statistically significant.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.

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