Bill Text: NJ SR91 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to revise its policy limiting employers' ability to drug test employees following workplace accidents.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-11-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Labor Committee [SR91 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-SR91-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Urges federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to revise its policy limiting employers' ability to drug test employees following workplace accidents.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution urging the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to revise its policy limiting the ability of employers to drug test employees following workplace accidents.
Whereas, Substance abuse is a serious and growing epidemic that affects all aspects of a person's life, including the ability to perform workplace responsibilities; and
Whereas, Studies have highlighted the impact of drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace: employees who abuse drugs and alcohol have been found to be 3.6 times more likely to be involved in a workplace accident, and substance abuse has been linked to 40 percent of industrial workplace fatalities and 47 percent of industrial workplace injuries; and
Whereas, Substance abuse also adversely affects the operational costs of businesses, thereby contributing to increased medical expenditures and workers' compensation claims, productivity losses, absenteeism, increased incidents of theft, and higher employee turnover; and
Whereas, The ability of employers to conduct drug and alcohol monitoring, particularly following a workplace accident, serves to reduce these costs, prevent future injuries, and provide a pathway for individuals to obtain substance abuse treatment; and
Whereas, Effective August 10, 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") of the U.S. Department of Labor issued revised regulations that limit the ability of employers to perform drug and alcohol tests following a workplace accident; and
Whereas, On October 19, 2016, OSHA published an interpretative memorandum for this rule change, which advised that employers should first determine that there is a "reasonable possibility that drug use" was a "contributing factor" to a workplace injury prior to conducting tests for drugs and alcohol; and
Whereas, This revised OSHA rule, by limiting the discretion of businesses to exercise their best judgment, will have a chilling effect on the ability of employers to effectively monitor the security of their workplaces and prevent on-the-job accidents, thereby increasing the potential for injury to occur; and
Whereas, Increased restrictions on the ability of employers to conduct drug tests may also lead to unanticipated secondary effects, such as increased operational costs for businesses and fewer opportunities for individuals to obtain substance abuse treatment; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House respectfully urges the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to revise its rules and interpretative statements so as to fully permit employers to conduct drug and alcohol tests for employees following workplace accidents.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to each member of Congress from this State, to the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor, and to the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.
STATEMENT
This resolution urges the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA"), within the U.S. Department of Labor, to revise its rules to allow employers to drug test employees who are involved in workplace accidents without restriction.
Recent changes to regulations promulgated by OSHA threaten to place businesses under increased scrutiny for conducting drug and alcohol tests on employees who are involved in workplace accidents. Individual businesses are best positioned to assess their own operations and practices, and then make informed decisions as to whether drug testing would be appropriate and effective. The revised OSHA regulations raise concern that businesses, including employers throughout the State, will be hindered in their ability to effectively monitor the safety and security of their employees and customers. Furthermore, the revised regulations also raise concern of unanticipated secondary effects, such as the potential that restrictions on drug testing following accidents may lead to increased accidents, increased operational costs, higher employee turnover, and fewer individuals being afforded the opportunity to obtain substance abuse treatment.
