Deny Yourself Nothing

There is a myth perpetuated in today’s media, and it is one that causes a lot of damage when it comes to personal decisions. The myth is that everyone is inherently selfish and that this is a vice and that everyone should try their hardest to fight against this selfishness and denounce it at every turn. Research has shown that humans are actually not that selfish, and that we are very self interested, which is not the same thing, at all. Self interest means that you recognize that your own needs and concerns must take priority over those of others if you are to even have any resources to give. Unfortunately, selfishness and the hatred thereof has so permeated our society that often individuals are taught to give whatever they have, even if it is not enough for themselves.

This is a problem because, in order for society to grow and survive, the differentiation between selfishness and self interest must be recognized.
Often, someone who is living in the slums or on the edge of a slum society will vehemently describe how what they are doing is best because they are not going to take any problems from anyone. The fact that they even have the need to validate their own basic self interest shows us just how far the disease of selfishness-condemnation has really gone.

We cannot function as a society if we do not first recognise that our own needs must be met before we can begin to help others with their needs. In order to forgive others, we must first actively and consciously forgive ourselves. In order to love another, we must first learn how to love ourselves and actively and consciously show ourselves this love on a daily basis. In order to employ responsible safe employees, we must first learn how to make our business safe on its own, through the steady and applied use of employee drug and alcohol screening.

CMM Technology believes in taking care of our own company, and then taking care of yours. Our drug tests and alcohol breathalyser devices are top of the line and available for your purchase and use at any time.

Pre Screening and Chain of Custody: The Ramifications

Workplace drug testing is about protection. This protection is meant to guard against both intentional and unintentional injuries on the jobsite. Unfortunately, drug related injuries are often unintentional due to the individual being under the influence of the drug.

In “The Autobiography of an Execution,” David Dow describes his experiences defending death row inmates in the United States. Death row inmates in Texas have very little chance of even delaying the execution date, since Texas executes more than any other state and it covers quite a large area of America. Dow talks about some of his clients, and how they originally put themselves in such a precarious position. Many of the crimes were based upon vengeance for hurt family members or unfaithful spouses, but a significant number of them were drug related crimes, and many of the drug related crimes involved the killer being under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and therefore not being in full control of their faculties or reasoning.

Drugs and alcohol take away your ability to correctly judge a situation and avoid ramifications. Employee drug testing gives you a certain amount of control over potential employee drug abuse, avoiding some of the intentional and unintentional consequences which can arise.

So, how unintentional can accidents be?

Well, as it turns out, everything is pretty intentional. The choice to abuse drugs or alcohol is fully conscious and premeditated. There is no way that you cannot choose to initially abuse either type of substance or Recalibration Service, and then continue to abuse it. It is completely up to the individual to decide and discern.

In Dow’s book, he described how, even though drugs and alcohol were available to most of the inmates, some of them turned around and repented of their previous actions. However, this change of heart obviously didn’t change their sentence, and his role as the attorney for these death row inmates was merely to delay execution for as long as possible. Hope lasted for thirty day increments since delays often only lasted a month.

Whatever your thoughts on preserving and giving up the rights to the sanctity of life, it is obvious that many of these atrocious crimes were committed while the people in question were unable to use their own sane judgment about what to do and how to react. 

Drug and Alcohol Testing and the Weather

The weather has a lot to do with our mood and how we hold up during confrontation or stress of any kind. Neurobiologists have found that serotonin and dopamine, the exciters, endorphins and feel-good, calm-down indicators of our moods are both highly increased during warm, pleasant sunny weather. In fact, as long as it is not unreasonably hot, warm weather is one of the most ideal conditions by which humans measure their good mood throughout the day. Sunshine has been proven scientifically as absolutely necessary to the reproduction of cells, and this includes all types of cells, including stem cells. This means that, the more sunshine you receive during the day, the more likely you are to be reproducing healthy cells.

Now, sunshine is not liked by everyone. There are some people who prefer cold weather or rainy conditions, and these people are more likely to become unreasonably hot during pleasantly warm conditions. This could be due to several things, including but not limited to overactive thyroid or parathyroid, inflamed muscles or tissues, or being overweight and overheating easily. People who overheat easily tend to be somewhat immune to cold weather and feel more active and social during cold weather when their bodies are operating under prime temperatures. However, the majority of people do better in warm balmy sunny weather, and this is generally due to the sunshine and fresh air they receive in abundance when they spend a great deal of time outside. It is not so much about their preferred weather conditions, as it is about the chemical and serotonin production within their minds and muscles.

Workplace drug testing improves personal responsibility, which helps to create similar feelings of endorphins, much like the ones we experience when exposed to warm direct sunlight. Employee drug and alcohol testing improves personal accountability for actions on the jobsite, which in turn improves feelings of self confidence and accomplishment. These feelings of accomplishment are important for internal motivation on the jobsite. Internal motivation is one of the highest qualities an employee can possess. Employee drug testing is a huge benefit in the workplace, both directly and indirectly. 

When Reasonable Suspicion Suggests Drug and Alcohol Testing is needed

 pre screening, breathalyser calibration

There is a term called Reasonable Suspicion drug and alcohol testing.  Also referred to as For Cause or Reasonable Belief, these terms refer to a situation where substance testing is done based on a belief that an employee currently is using or has been using alcohol and/or drugs in violation of company policies. The belief forms as a result of a series of observations of employee behaviours on the job leading to the employer making inferences based on those observations.

The Reasonable Suspicion concept is different from random drug testing. Random drug testing involves testing designated groups of employees based on a random schedule with the goal of identifying alcohol and drug use in the workplace. Reasonable Suspicion testing, on the other hand, is based on observed worker characteristics that would lead a reasonable person to conclude there may be alcohol or drug induced impairment.

What constitutes Reasonable Suspicion is a thorny question because there is always an element of vagueness or a degree of latitude in deciding if a person should be alcohol and drug tested.  False accusations can create a lot of distrust of the employer in the future or lead to charges of harassment. That is why the supervisor must be very careful about identifying and documenting Reasonable Suspicion due to behaviours or appearance that is based on:

·                 Physical condition

·                 Unusual behaviour

·                 Mental alertness

Unfortunately it is still not a simple task because people may perform poorly at work or even act oddly for a number of reasons. For example, someone may have fatigue or working conditions have caused worker stress. It is for these kinds of reasons that Reasonable Suspicion is a contentious issue for many people, but the fact is that the overriding issue is safety of the employee, co-workers and other company stakeholders including the customers.

·                 Should apply to employees performing safety sensitive jobs

·                 Should not be applied based only on an employee’s job title

·                 Observations leading to Reasonable Suspicion must be specific and particularly

·                 Represents a suspicion that any prudent and cautious person would have given the behaviour or appearance of the employee

The Reasonable Suspicion process involves 3 steps – identification, gathering evidence, and testing. The identification phase includes the observation of work performance, behaviours or appearance. For example, the employee may have aggressive behaviour, has difficulty walking or is now unable to perform job duties that were properly handled in the past.

The evidence must then be documented. The documentation is the written record that explains what was witnessed and/or the patterns of behaviour that indicates someone is impaired. The evidence must be specific, verifiable by independent sources, and concrete. For example, a supervisor may document an unusual number of on-the-job accidents coupled with observations of mood swings that include unpredictable bursts of anger. The documentation should include the names of any witnesses, the time and dates of the occurrences and any other observations that support the Reasonable Suspicion.

The evidence needs to be strictly facts and not opinions, and the facts should focus on safety in the workplace. Once the facts are documented, they can then be presented to the employee and the employee asked to submit to a drug and alcohol test.  At that point the employer would rely on tests like the urine drug test or the breathalyser and Oraline Saliva tests to prove or disprove alcohol and drug use.

Reasonable Suspicion is not something that can be defined with one list of behaviours or observations because each set of circumstances will be different depending on the workplace and the employee. It does represent a responsibility of the employer in the efforts to keep the workplace safe.

CMM Technology offers a variety of quality drug and alcohol testing equipment that will play an important role in the administration of the workplace testing program. Testing in a way that meets Australian standards is critical for proving the validity of a Reasonable Suspicion.

Choice Theory and the Workplace

This article is based upon Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by Dr. William Glasser. It is an excellent read and is highly recommended for both business owners and individuals suffering from emotional blocks in their personal lives.

The basis for Dr. Glasser’s psychology is personal choice and the fact that we choose everything in our lives, with no exception. He discusses each of our varying needs for power, freedom, love and bonding, stability, and fun. He also discusses how our emotions are active choices, not passive occurrences which happen to us. Someone or something does not make us angry, we choose to anger. Circumstances are not frustrating, we choose to frustrate. Dr. Glasser states that defining these terms honestly, in active tense, is instrumental in learning that we choose everything that we feel, believe and act upon and that these personal choices can make or break us, but that they are our choices, not somebody else’s.

Let us practice some of these actively stated emotions with respect to the workplace environment. One of your employees keeps coming in late and you actively choose to frustrate over this. Your quarterly earnings do not meet the projected rates and now you choose to worry. Your marriage is on the rocks and you hate being away from home, so you choose to dissociate and not concentrate on the job at hand. Your life is not how you wanted it to be, and yet you specifically and purposely chose every single thing which led up to your current level of angering.

In addition to changing the realistic description of your emotions so that you recognize how in control you really are, Dr. Glasser also recommends that you think about all of the relationships in your life, romantic, familial and professional. Before you react to someone’s behavior, ask yourself one question, “Will my behavior draw me closer to this person or push me further away from them?” Dr. Glasser describes how attempting to control someone will push them further away and how giving them personal freedom of choice will draw them closer to you. There is a myth that marriage vows and senior executive positions safeguard you from consequences for your actions. Many individuals believe that their marriage gives them room to behave in an inappropriate manner or that their job status gives them security. However, relationships are simply points in space, and both individuals have to show up every day in order to continue having that relationship. There are no invisible bonds keeping either party somehow tied to the other. Even after twenty years of marriage, the decision to show up every day has to be active and mutual.

Threats, cajoling, excuses, downsizing irresponsible behavior, lack of responsibility and abusive attitudes all actively work to threaten your company and your relationship with your company employees. Good management will override the need for less professional behavior. Drug and alcohol testing will strengthen the relationships with your employees and create a positive working environment.