5 Occupations with Zero Tolerance for Workplace Drug Use

Making sure that a workplace is efficient is incredibly important to maintaining efficiency and consistency. In certain professions, efficiency and consistency must always be perfect, causing the same jobs to require their employees to be completely sober at all times. In fact, some jobs even have zero tolerance policies for employees who are caught under the influence on the job!

However, you might be wondering: what does zero tolerance mean? It might sound self-explanatory, but it's a bit more nuanced than that. For example, zero tolerance in the context of work-related drug tests means that no level of a substance (i.e. cannabis) can be detected, period. Because drug tests typically track a person's usage between a designated window of time, they can pick up usage that falls outside of workplace hours. For many employers, though, this is still important to know, as they don't want to take any chances.

To help you understand which jobs have zero tolerance policies, we've made a list of 5 Occupations with Zero Tolerance for Workplace Drug Use:

#5. Mall Security Guards

If you're somebody patrolling a mall, you definitely want to be completely aware on the job. This is why there are zero tolerance policies in place for mall security guards, as you can't lose track of anybody while working this position.

#4. High School Teachers

If you're somebody teaching in high school, you have to have an intense dedication for the students you teach. Because you're working with minors, it's also important that you are able to pass your drug tests.

#3. Police Officers

Police officers have to always be on the lookout to effectively do their jobs, making it impossible to have any substances lingering in their systems.

#2. Doctors

If you're a doctor, you always have to have a watchful eye over your patients and your practice. For this reason, you can't have any drugs in your system! Because maintaining health and prescribing medication can affect people's lives so directly, zero tolerance policies are necessary.

#1. Surgeons

Out of all of the jobs on this list, being a surgeon is likely the most high-risk job. The margin of error is very small with the risks being incredibly high, making it a job that almost requires a zero tolerance policy.

At the end of the day, having any type of substance in your system simply isn't okay for certain positions. If you're somebody who prefers to have certain legal substances in your system (i.e. cannabis in the states where it is allowed), it's important to familiarize yourself with the jobs that you probably shouldn't apply to. We hope this list has been helpful so you know just which jobs have zero tolerance policies!

Tom James,