Successfully evaluating applicants for temporary employment is a critical staffing agency service. At times, depending on a job's requirements, evaluating a potential employee needs to go beyond the standard process of personal interviews, reference checks and skill assessments. For some jobs, it can require drug testing.

As a customer of a staffing agency, you should know what kinds of tests are available and how they can be done in a professional, legal, confidential and timely fashion. Consult with your staffing company for help in deciding whether jobs you are filling warrant this additional service. The tests might not be necessary for a clerical employee, for example, but can be important for operators of heavy machinery or other jobs where excellent eye-hand coordination is needed.

Drug use in the workplace can spell huge costs and inconvenience to employers - an estimated $75 billion to $100 billion annually in lost time, accidents, health care and workers compensation costs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Drug use in the workplace showed a slight rise in 2000, according to the results of a semi-annual national drug testing index.

In response, more employers are instituting drug testing programs of their own. More than one-third of full-time employees reported that their workplace tests for drug use upon hiring, according to the government's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. And many companies are asking staffing agencies to perform that service for temporary employees.

"By having a staffing agency handle this, customers can get drug testing done to their satisfaction and not have to deal with the insidious details and legalities of having it done," said Jeff Pettegrew, Westaff's vice president of insurance and risk management.

The quality of a drug screening program is important to both companies and employees. If you do decide to request drug screening from a staffing agency, look for the following elements in their program. A quality substance abuse screening policy should contain all of these:

• Education and information. All applicants for a job should have the drug screening policy explained to them clearly and be asked to consent in writing to mandatory pre-employment testing, random testing and post-accident testing.
• A network of drug testing laboratories. A staffing agency should have a choice of nearby laboratories so applicants are not unduly inconvenienced. At least three kinds of testing should be available: saliva, urine and blood.
• Qualified Medical Review and Appeals. The testing must cover the right panel of narcotic substances that are of concern to an employer. The test should be reviewed by a qualified medical expert, not by a lab technician. Applicants should be able to appeal the first screening by taking more specific tests.
• Mandatory post-accident testing. A staffing agency should be prepared at a moment's notice, with an employee's written consent in hand, to request post-accident drug testing, even in the emergency room. Substance abuse revealed in the wake of an on-the-job accident (whether it's a cut finger or a major injury) can be crucial in defending claims and have very significant cost-saving factors.
• Privacy policies. Substance abuse screenings are a sensitive matter for people. Make sure applicants are informed of positive results in a private and non-accusatory manner. Remember that false positives can occur if applicants have forgotten to list legitimate prescription medicines.