premise: Under 5% of employers test their staff for the use of recreational drugs and the vast majority do not consider substance abuse to be a significant issue in their workplace. Evidence of a link between drug abuse and accidents or low productivity is hard to find. More studies found a link between alcoholism and a detrimental impact on safety and performance than a link with drugs, either so-called soft drugs such as cannabis or class 1 drugs such as cocaine. Employers face problems if they decide that they should test staff for drugs. In addition to ethical considerations, employees have a right to privacy under the Human Rights Act; however, the employer also has a duty to provide a safe workplace and has a duty of care to take every reasonable step to ensure safety at work under the Health and Safety at Work Act. In some industries, for example the transport and nuclear power industries, employers do routinely test their staff for drug use.
hypothesis: There is evidence that the use of recreational drugs is irrelevant to most employers.