Many employers use a drug testing company to cut down on employees who could be potential problems. They may use these services prior to hiring someone. They may also use them periodically to prevent drug related problems on the job. They are standard in many industries and becoming more popular in others.

Using this type of testing prior to hiring someone can potentially help a company to cut down on problem employees. Drug users, even those who casually use marijuana, cost companies many thousands of dollars each year. This can come in the form of absenteeism, on the job injuries and increased costs for medical insurance. Additionally, many companies that need their employees to maintain attention to detail, such as an accounting division, do not want anything to influence their employees focus in a negative way.

Drug testing services may require an employee to submit a urine sample or use a hair sample. Both are done under a controlled environment in which the subject has little or no possibility of making a substitution. Testing may reveal recent drug use if the test is urine based. Ones that use hair can give a longer time span of information. They may also be less distasteful to many people to use.

These tests can detect a variety of illegal substances. Beside marijuana, PCP, opiates, meth, Ecstacy and others are frequently found. These can also detect drug use from those who abuse prescription drugs such as oxycodone and other drugs that are frequently prescribed for pain control.

Employers also use services like drug testing labs to monitor current employees. This can be particularly important for industries that require employees to operate vehicles or large equipment like cranes. At many companies, employees who are found to have levels of drugs in their systems are terminated on the spot. The liability that these people place on a company can run into the millions of dollars when accidents occur due to their recreational drug use. Most industries notice a decrease in accidents when they use these testing services to monitor employees on a regular basis.

Companies that monitor existing employees will use this testing on a random basis. By not letting anyone know what day they may be tested, they can cut down on people using drugs to some extent. In that some types of tests only give information about the last few days or a week, users could potentially abstain for awhile should they know what the schedule for a visit with the drug testing company might be.