Survey Finds One-Third Of Pa. Job Applicants Eliminated By Mandatory Drug Tests
By Pat Loeb
PHULADELPHIA (CBS) -- A survey by The Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association finds that one-third of job applicants are eliminated by mandatory drug tests, either because they refuse to take them or fail to pass them.
Association Director Dave Taylor says members have been complaining for years about applicants that won't take or can't pass a drug test. The survey was designed to quantify the problem and even Taylor was surprised by the numbers: 19 percent refuse to take the tests, 16 percent don't pass.
Taylor says they're missing out on good jobs.
"It is very important to have a safe workplace in a manufacturing environment. You've got heavy equipment, you've got bladed instruments, high voltage, extreme temperatures, chemical reactions. Manufacturers have to have a sober workforce," Taylor said.
Taylor says there are half a million manufacturing jobs in Pennsylvania and he hopes job seekers will learn it's worthwhile to forgo illegal drugs.
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