Introduction:

Consumption of alcohol and drugs in work environments suppose a risk for the employees, for third parties and for the productivity. World's ILO recommends previous medic evaluation of employees' health. The objective of this work was to estimate the prevalence of marihuana consumption and cocaine in urine samples for candidates to high-risk jobs and to analyze the associated factors.

Method:

We took 2.197 urine samples to detect any consumption of marihuana or cocaine. The source was secondary. Toxicological analysis was made with a technique of chromatographic immune-essay of lateral flux. Measures for absolute and relative frequency were calculated, as well as chi-squared tests for the analysis of the associated factors.

Results:

Prevalence of marihuana was of 7.3% and cocaine of 3.6%. There was a statistical association between the positive result of marihuana and the sex, age, education and type of company. For cocaine, the same variables were associated, except the age.

Conclusions:

Using drug tests for urine as medical pre-occupational examinations is the first step to prevent drug consumption in high-risk work environments. There is evidence that candidates for a job who consume drugs have bigger chances to assume risks in the work environment.

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