Screening for psychoactive substances at the workplace: A review

Abstract

lthough the goal of reducing occupational accidents is often used as an argument to justify workplace screening programs on psychoactive substances, the literature on the topic shows lack of scientific basis for such assumption. Among other reasons, few publications offer quantitative studies, and even fewer areable to provide sound statistical evidence of this cause-to-effect relationship. This paper provides a litera-ture review on the subject and discusses the current knowledge in this field. The review shows that more re-search is needed to establish causal links between individual submission to psychoactive substances testing and subsequent accident reduction. In the aftermath of this review the authors suggest that such relationship should be evaluated by comparing empirical evidence of accident rates among workers previously tested, with accident rates among workers untested, all other things being equal.