GETTING TO KNOW BY ADINA YOUNG, DATIA
Each edition of DATIA focus will include a Q&A from a DATIA Board Member, Spotlighted Member or Course Instructor. It is our hope that this enables our readers to be better acquainted with DATIA and all of the people that help make it such a successful operation. Stay tuned each edition to meet a new industry peer!
Getting to Know: Renee Schofield, New DATIA Board Member, TSS, Inc.
Congratulations on being elected to DATIA’s Board of Directors and the new co-chair of the Marijuana Outreach Committee. Tell us why you were interested in
the DATIA Board and what you hope to accomplish. I have been a member of DATIA for many years. Over time, I have been on a couple of different committees, attended the annual conference regularly and gained so much from the management and industry professionals. I decided that it was time for me to give back on a larger scale: to participate more and in a very deliberate way. The Board of Directors is a way to do that. I also have a very keen interest in marijuana legislation that is happening in the United States. I live in a state that recently decriminalized marijuana. We are just beginning to roll out that legislation and I think it is important to help the people understand it: how to apply it and what effects will play into their daily lives, at work and at home. As a member of other organizations that directly tie into workplace and community safety, I have the unique opportunity to connect all the information in a meaningful manner.
Tell us about your company and your current role there. TSS, Inc. (The Safety Specialists) is a health and safety company. We provide full service consortium management for DOT and non-DOT clients. For these clients, drug screening programs should not be a headache. TSS provides the answer for that. We also augment that with full service phlebotomy staff to handle insurance exams, physician-ordered lab work and OSHA-required blood screening, such as lead levels. Our staff is also educated in hearing conservation, spirometry, respirator fit testing, CPR/FA, paternity screening and crime and trauma decontamination. We also have an array of employee education offerings that range from DOT-mandated training to employee motivation training. I am the owner/CEO of TSS, Inc. We have offices in Ketchikan, Juneau and Craig, Alaska; Keokuk, Iowa; Quincy, Illinois; and Hannibal, Missouri. While these brick and mortar locations are the cornerstone to the TSS infrastructure, it is not uncommon to find us hopping into a helicopter, climbing the side of a ship, or going to a mining operation. We go where our clients need us. 24/7.
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What do you think is the single most important issue in the drug and alcohol testing industry? Marijuana…hands down. With the legislation that has already passed and impending legislation in other states, employers now have another problem area to consider. When productivity decreases and risk increases, employers are faced with how to control those expenses and still provide a quality product to the consumer. Communities will also grapple with how to deal with the social service impact. This isn’t about smoking a joint after work anymore. It’s much larger than that and so many other products have been placed in our environments. In my opinion, it was too much, too fast and not enough consideration given to the bigger picture, which is workplace and community safety.
In your opinion, what do you think is a resolution to this issue and what is a realistic timeline? I am unsure there is a solid resolution. I do believe that there are some benefits to the medical side and hope that we can expedite some of those to market. However, I am firm in my belief that to serve the medical side, smoking THC is not the answer. There are multiple avenues for ingestion of the products of marijuana that don’t include smoking and reduce the psychoactive effects of the THC. Again, I believe we should roll this legislation out thoughtfully and with full understanding of impacts.
What is something you wish more people knew about you? I’ve been working on becoming a success coach. While I hope to work with various types of
individuals, ranging from entrepreneurs in business to those in the workforce looking for a change, my passion is working with women coming from incarceration, rehabilitation or domestic violence. I am not a counselor, a physician or a magician, but I am good at connecting resources. I believe that people need some wind beneath their wings sometimes, that doesn’t come from their court ordered situation or their mom. Just being solidly in support for someone who may have burned a lot of bridges along the way is valuable. As the mother of a recovering meth addict, (11 years sober!!) I totally understand how hard it is for the person and their families. If I can help in some way, it is important for me to do that. I am blessed to be able to do this work. It is interesting, it’s challenging and it helps people. And that is what I am here to do.
summer 2015
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