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After holding steady between 2017 and 2020, construction’s rate of positive drug tests increased by 12 percent from 2020 to 2021, according to the latest Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index.

However, this upward trend is not limited to construction. The rate of positive drug-test results among America’s workforce reached its highest rate last year since 2001 and was up more than 30 percent in the combined U.S. workforce from an all-time low in 2010-2012.

Among all industries, construction fell in the middle of the pack for overall drug positivity rates at 4.6 percent, behind such sectors as retail trade, accommodations  and food services, and waste and remediation services.

While positive cocaine urine drug tests have steadily declined in construction, the industry topped the list for the fifth year in a row with a 0.30 percent positivity rate in 2021. The wholesale trade industry came in second at 0.26 percent. Construction also ranked the highest for methamphetamine positivity at 0.20 percent, with mining coming in fourth at 0.16 percent.

Construction’s positivity rate for marijuana grew 16 percent year-over-year but was still significantly behind other industries at 2.9 percent. Comparatively, the accommodations and food services industry reported a 7.5 percent rate of positive marijuana urine drug tests.

Opiates positivity rates in the mining segment ranked the highest among other reported industry segments, coming in at 0.43 percent, compared to construction’s 0.13 percent. Still, the 0.43 percent is the lowest percentage of opiate positivity rates in the mining industry in the past five years of the index, says Quest.

The Bigger Picture

Quest says the study, based on more than 11 million anonymized urine, hair, and oral fluid drug test results, raises concerns for employers in safety-sensitive work environments such as construction.

“Our Drug Testing Index reveals several notable trends, such as increased drug positivity rates in the safety-sensitive workforce, including those performing public safety and national security jobs, as well as higher rates of positivity in individuals tested after on-the-job accidents,” said Barry Sample, senior science consultant for Quest Diagnostics.

“Employers are wrestling with significant recruitment and retention challenges as well as with maintaining safe and engaging work environments that foster positive mental and physical wellbeing,” said Keith Ward, general manager and vice president, Quest Diagnostics Employer Solutions. “Our Drug Testing Index data raises important questions about what it means to be an employer committed to employee health and safety. Eager to attract talent, employers may be tempted to lower their standards. In the process, they raise the specter of more drug-related impairment and worksite accidents that put other employees and the general public in harm’s way.”