With the passing of the Drug Free Workplace Act in 1998, new funding was opened up to many small businesses helping them to enforce drug testing in the workplace, and to prevent drug abuse in the workplace generally.

This is because the passing of this law allowed the Small Business Association (SBA) an opportunity to make grants to assist small businesses who comply. And while it isn’t in every state, many small business owners can receive further incentive in the way of discounts on their workers compensation insurance of 5 to 7.5 percent. For established buinesses and start-ups alike, those savings add up quickly.

And why might it make sense to offer workers comp insurance discounts to businesses who practice drug testing in the workplace? In short: because it saves everyone money--though no one more than the actual business owner.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse each year each drug user in the workplace will cost between $11,000 and $13,000 dollars in healthcare costs, lost productivity, unemployment, and of course, injury and workers compensation benefits. Imagine saving your company $11,000 and $13,000 dollars annually just by instituting the right kind of drug testing.

"So what about these grants from the SBA to help with compliance?" you ask.

Well, first you must have two years experience in carrying out drug free workplace programs, and you must have such a program currently in place. This doesn’t mean screening your employees for signs of drug abuse once and then forgetting about. It means:

pre-employment screenings

random testing

education in drug abuse treatment

post-accident drug testing, and more.

Even though this sounds like it might be a lot to undertake, it’s not if you’ve got EBI in your corner.

EBI’s national drug screening network includes over 15,000 Patient Service Centers and third party collection sites worldwide. You’ll get all the necessary testing arranged for you, at convenient and important times, with quick and efficient results. And all of EBI's drug test laboratory partners have been certified to meet government requirements by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and by the Department of Health and Human Services. Drug abuse in the workplace costs you time and money--let EBI get some of it back for you.