In total, the corporate health care company Avonova, together with the Karolinska University Laboratory, has studied 24,000 drug tests at workplaces from 2023 – and found that the proportion of positive test results has increased significantly in recent years.
Safety in focus
In random drug testing, the highest proportion of positive results – 3.6 percent – was found in the construction industry. The average for all surveyed industries was 1.9 percent positive test results.
The construction industry stands out in a negative way, says Fredrik Sparring, company doctor and specialist in addiction issues at Avonova.
In the construction industry, it may be that there is a lack of sufficient control over the workforce. It is common with subcontractors. Employers and unions must take greater responsibility for a drug-free work environment, safety must be more important than personal integrity, he continues.
Just safety can suffer when individual workers are drug-impaired.
In the construction industry, everything is at stake. There are high heights, heavy machinery and tools. This poses a risk to the individual, but also to colleagues and the general public, says Sparring.
More support
What can companies do to detect drug abuse in the workplace and help individual employees who want to overcome addiction? Fredrik Sparring has several suggestions.
Drug testing is, of course, a tool. But you also need to have a drug and alcohol policy and define what the consequences will be if they are broken. The knowledge that drug testing can be done has a preventive effect, we have seen.
Sparring also thinks that proactive work is important, where managers, for example, should be trained to detect abuse or problems and be able to offer support and rehabilitation.
Several judgments from the Labor Court have established that employers have a duty to support rehabilitation for employees with alcohol problems. But no similar obligations for employees with drug addiction exist, says Fredrik Sparring.
We think that you need to modernize your view on this. Some employers take great responsibility for employees with drug problems, others do not. It looks very different.
Construction industry: 3.6 percent
Manufacturing industry: 2.4 percent
Transport industry: 1.9 percent
Sales and storage: 1.2 percent
Average for all surveyed industries: 1.9 percent
Source: Avonova
