If you have taken any business courses or even if you haven’t you know about some of the contributions that Henry Ford has made to modern day business practices.  The implementation of the assembly line in the production of the Model T made the automobile more affordable to the average consumer.

Did you know that the Ford Motor Company initiated the practice of the drug free workplace?  In 1914 The Ford Motor Company established sobriety programs in all of the company’s production plants.  Back then alcohol was the primary source of impairment as opposed to today where drug testing for THC, cocaine, amphetamines and other illegal substances are the norm.  Workplace drug testing became more prominent in the late 1980’s when President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 which banned the use of drugs by federal employees both on and off the job.

The government estimated that billions of dollars per year were lost due to lowered productivity by workers using drugs.  The drug-free workplace became the norm not the exception.  Drug testing was implemented not just on the federal and state level but in private industry as well.  The health and safety of those workers who come to work not “under the influence” was much more important to the bottom line. The goal is not to just rid the work place of those who choose to do drugs, but to give them a chance to rehabilitate themselves and keep their jobs.

Rather than go through the expense of sending employees into rehabilitation programs, it was much more cost effective to require pre-employment drug screening to weed out the drug users before they are even hired.  (To Be Continued)