Tony A Enterprises, Inc. is a three-year-old company with about 20 employees. Because the company was in growth mode, they had been strongly encouraged by their workers compensation insurance provider to implement a formal safety and drug-free workplace program. The insurance agent explained that the purpose of such a program was risk management reduction.

Tony A Enterprises works in the road construction industry that involves heavy equipment, vehicle operation
and highway traffic. Safe work procedures and a substance free workforce would be a strong deterrent for accidents and subsequent liabilities.

Tony A Enterprises heard about the Paul D. Coverdell drug-free workplace program from Occupational Safety Systems, a partner in the South Texas Border Region Partnership for a Drug-Free Workplace. Not having either the technical or financial resources to begin a full program, they were delighted to find a program that offered full services without significant costs to their company and that met with their attorney’s approval.

Shortly after the program was instituted, Tony A Enterprises did have an incident that involved a worker who tested and was found to be impaired. Because they had a written policy, had trained the workers and had a testing program, they were not liable for the workers compensation, since the worker tested positive for prohibited substances.

"Having the program in place and having such a quick response to any of our issues has saved the company money and provided greater peace of mind,” said Jerilyn Cordova, Program Manager, Tony A Enterprises.