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Post by mshm99 on Jul 25, 2009 18:41:28 GMT -5
I returned to my job at US Steel in Granite City,IL about a month ago. I was in one of the first groups called back. I consider drug testing a necessary evil, especially for people who are in positions where a lapse in judgment could get some one killed. Unfortunately, not everyone is routinely tested. If your job is, say, pushing a broom , you don't get checked unless you get hurt.
Our contract plainly says, after a lay off of more than 90 days,you will be tested during your call back physical. Anyone who cared to listen was told this.
Our call back was sooner than anyone expected . Hair samples and urine was collected and 25% tested positive!
Here's the unexpected part. It was not the kids testing positive. It was the boomer's.
Go figure?
mshm
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Post by ozark on Jul 25, 2009 19:34:28 GMT -5
I dount that I could pass a drug test. I take 12 prescribed pills daily plus some inhalers. But isn't it sad that so many folks are using drugs to avoid accpting life as it is. How wonderful I would feel if I could life without all these prescribed drugs but I must say they have kept me mostly pain free and alive five years longer than I thought i would live. Example: Today at a restaurant I had a breathing problem that causes one to panic. I reached in my pocket and grabbed a inhaler designed to help in panic attacks. My wife came over to masage my forhead and shoulders and soon I was able to sit down and eat. One could say that I should stay home or go to a nursing home but it is hard to give up being mobile. Being out of work, no income and a bleak future could make people seek a panic recovery drug. It is hard to judge an Indian until you have walked in his moccacins for a few miles.
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Post by whyohe on Jul 25, 2009 19:48:43 GMT -5
i have one of thoes jobs too mshm99. i'm stilled layed off. i never even think of doing any thing like that for one, its not me and second im not going to risk a good job to do something like that. if some one is on perscribed drugs there is nothing the company can do as long as it is perscribed for them. i dont know why people want to risk their lives and others lives for a little "high".
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Post by Dave W on Jul 25, 2009 20:06:43 GMT -5
They randomly test the truck drivers where I work, if they did the same for the entire shop, half the workforce would be in rehab. Weed has always been a problem but illegal prescription drugs are the rage now. Either management is naive or just stupid.
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Post by billc on Jul 25, 2009 20:46:33 GMT -5
I've been randomly tested where I work for nearly 30 years. I feel a lot better knowing some stoner isn't going to get me killed while at work.
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Post by petev on Jul 25, 2009 22:15:42 GMT -5
mshm, your statement about the boomers being the worst offenders is unfortunately the way our generation seems to have been, and apparently still is to a surprising extent. If our parents knew in the sixties what parents do now about drugs, things might have been different. I said "no" to drugs, and feel that by doing so it saved me from alot of other problems that go along with it. So, mshm what will happen to those who tested positive at your plant?
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Post by mshm99 on Jul 25, 2009 22:20:07 GMT -5
Prescribed medications are not an issue. State upfront what meds you are taking. I'm talking about weed,cocaine,meth,crack, etc.
Depending on your poison,and your discipline record ,you could be given a last chance,three year probation. You can't operate any type of equipment during probation. Drug tests on a regular basis. That is if you are lucky. Dry out visits to the group hug facilities for the harder stuff.
Ozark, we don't get to choose what afflictions beset us in our later years. The meds are ,in fact , a mixed blessing. Speaking for my self, I intend to try to prolong my stay here on earth as long as I can,by all means available. I don't know who said "Everybody wants to go to heaven,but nobody wants to die". I see alot of truth in that statement. I hope you get to feeling better.
I really don't have much sympathy for my co workers who got busted,although I feel for their families.
mshm
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Post by chuck41 on Jul 26, 2009 9:17:31 GMT -5
mshm99, I can certainly understand your statement, "I really don't have much sympathy for my co workers who got busted, although I feel for their families." That is the sad part of what happens when people do self-destructive things. They are not the only ones affected by their actions.
"Recreational" drugs are a big problem. It is an extreme example of irresponsible people doing stupid things for a temporary high. These folk don't consider the long term repercussions of their actions and such folk shouldn't be put in jobs where they are in charge of things that can get other folks hurt. Fits right in with the mentality of those that want the "Obama solutions" for America's problems. They are looking for a quick fix that promises a feel good solution with no effort expended and no consideration of the long term damage it causes.
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Jul 26, 2009 14:29:53 GMT -5
AND THEN.....you have alcohol. Legal. I would bet that this drug causes more accidents, violence and broken families then all the others combined. More health related problems then all other illicit drugs combined. I have known people who, in the privacy of their own home, have occationally smoked stuff other then cigatettes who NEVER went to work that way, have spotless records, and have held their jobs and families just fine.
I am not supporting their actions.....just as I don't support drinking yourself silly every night and coming to work tired and hung over. Letting your relationship with your family and community slide into the ditch. It is interesting that alcohol slips through the radar when subjects like this come up.
I also do not support the legalization of currently illegal substances. ALSO, I do not want prohabition to return! I love beer! IPA's the most.
Simply an observation. I think if a person knows the rules....that their workplace tests for things....one would have to be a blithering fool to try and fly under the radar and risk termination. Not every one is smart though. And when you're dumb about something like this you are no asset to yourself or your family...no less where you work.
I do find it quite interesting that a rip roaring drunk that misses time, drinks so much that his kids can't eat right, lets his house fall apart, and slowly develops liver disease seems to be OK as long as he shows up sober in the morning...while the occational partier who generally has his $hit together can have his life ruined. It all seems to be based on what's legal as opposed to what is right and wrong. We are based on laws and the laws are what they are. Society does have to conform to the laws...and our laws allow us to be complete drunks if we want....punished only after we do damage to someone else. Or kill someone. Or fall asleep during the day while driving a train or bus. Etc...etc.
Like I said, just an observation. I hope I have not come across as supporting occational illegal drug use because I don't. I just see alcohol abuse as a bigger problem....and I see it all around me every day. Don't you?
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Post by ozark on Jul 26, 2009 16:04:25 GMT -5
Wilmsmeyer, your post is right on. I agree with you 100 percent. I might add that the laws governing alcohol and cigerettes are taxed and bring in a lot of income. There is a big difference between an alcoholic and a person who enjoys a few beers. My younger brother who eventually permitted alcohol to not only destroy his work, marriage and happiness but caused his death. In many ways he was intelligent, was a pilot and held some good jobs. I recall him mentioning the reasoning of a drunk. Someone ask him why he came to work suffering with a hangover. His answer was: "As the day goes on you will feel worse and worse while I will be getting better all day and go home feeling better than when I came to work. I started smoking young unaware it was a very unhealthy habit. I became very addicted to nicotine and after 60 years of sucking smoke into my lungs I am suffering daily the results. Yes, I quit about ten years ago but not before I had ruined my lungs. So, I can't claim to be guiltless. Today, smoking isn't allowed in most public places. I had surgury in Indiana in 1944 and they permitted smoking at my bedside right next to other patients. We were issued cigerettes in our military rations. But a drunk with only one eye and half sense should know that breathing smoke containing a habit forming drug is stupid. It is legal and we take great pains to hide to do our natural body eliminating processes. What really burns my butt is I have caused my own suffering. Oh yeah, a flame about three feet high burns it too. Ozark
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Post by mshm99 on Jul 26, 2009 21:59:09 GMT -5
I did not mention it , but everyone blows into a breathalizer to check for alcohol,at the return to work physical. And yes ,people did show up for their physical after drinking a few that afternoon ,and a trace is a failure. Zero tolerance. We have had guys ,who got so pickled the night before,blew drunk ,the next day. A boss smells it on you and security will promply appear ,and you will blow.
Zero tolerance. A trace ,you're gone.
US Steel does not play around. We have places so smokey and dusty you can't see you hand fully extended. You can't smoke a cigarette there,because it's not a designated area. Buildings open on two sides ,with 120' roofs are not considered outside,no smoking. Infractions will get you time off . Do it enough,termination.
I'll retire in 22 months. Can't wait.
mshm
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Post by chuck41 on Jul 26, 2009 23:51:24 GMT -5
I did not mention it , but everyone blows into a breathalizer to check for alcohol,at the return to work physical. And yes ,people did show up for their physical after drinking a few that afternoon ,and a trace is a failure. Zero tolerance. We have had guys ,who got so pickled the night before,blew drunk ,the next day. . . . . . . . . . . . . I'll retire in 22 months. Can't wait. mshm Guys that have to have a few beers just before going to a physical are just too darned stupid to go back to work. Alcohol stays in the body only for about 12 to 24 hours and even a habitual drunk can stay clean that long. The other stuff is detectable for two to three weeks so I can understand them getting caught for that. Getting caught with alcohol on their breath sounds like just finding an excuse to not have to go back to work.
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Post by mshm99 on Jul 27, 2009 18:29:27 GMT -5
You might be right Chuck. Never thought of it that way. Hair samples detect drug use as far as 6 months back.
mshm
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