Workplace Drug & Alcohol Testing
Estimates show that the social and economic costs of alcohol-related harm amount to £21.5billion, while harm from illicit drug use costs £10.7billion.
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A highly effective approach to reduce the misuse of drugs and alcohol among employees is to implement randomised testing conducted by an external and impartial occupational health team.
How Do We Test?
Various testing methods can be employed to identify the presence of drugs or alcohol in an individual's system. These include oral fluid testing (commonly known as saliva drug testing), hair drug tests, and breath alcohol testing.
Cerebrum Medical Ltd offer drug testing via a 13 panel Ultra Sensitive cup. This drug test offers industry-leading levels of detection and is loaded with a combination of very sensitive drug test membranes, capable of detecting lower levels of drugs in urine than standard drug tests.
Workplace Drug & Alcohol Laws
Numerous laws govern drug and alcohol testing in the workplace, delineating the suitable circumstances for employee testing and establishing guidelines to ensure fairness.
Legislation pertaining to workplace drug testing mandates that it must either be entirely random or restricted to employees who require testing due to the nature of their roles. It is not permissible to selectively target specific employees for testing unless justified by the inherent requirements of their positions.
What Drugs Can We Test For?
Cerebrum Medical Ltd can conduct urine drug testing that screens urine for the following 13 drugs (drugs with ultra sensitive detection levels are in bold):
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Cannabis. 20ng/ml
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Cocaine 100ng/ml
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Opiates 300ng/ml
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Amphetamine 500ng/ml
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Ecstasy. 500ng/ml
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Ketamine 1000ng/ml
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Methamphetamine. 500ng/ml
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Methadone 300ng/ml
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Barbiturates. 300ng/ml
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Buprenorphine 10ng/ml
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Benzodiazepines. 200ng/ml
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Tri-Cyclic Antidepressants. 300ng/ml
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PCP (phencyclidine) 25ng/ml
Can An Employee Refuse a Test?
An employee is obligated to undergo workplace drug testing if they have signed a contract explicitly stating their participation in random drug and alcohol testing.
Emphasising the significance of a well-defined workplace drug and alcohol policy, any employee refusing an alcohol or drug test in this context may face disciplinary measures, provided there are sufficient grounds for testing.
Refusal to grant consent typically results in the test being regarded as a positive outcome.
Do you need to test?
Some employers have adopted screening as part of their drug and alcohol policy. If you want to do the same, think carefully about what you want screening to achieve and what you will do with the information it gives you.
There may be a case for screening, particularly in certain jobs (for example employees who make safety-critical decisions like drivers, pilots and some machinery operators). In jobs like these the misuse of drugs or alcohol could have disastrous effects for the employee, colleagues, members of the public and the environment.
Bear in mind that:
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employees must consent to screening for practical and legal reasons
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screening by itself will not solve problems caused by drug and alcohol misuse and, where introduced, should be part of a company's overall health and safety policy
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screening must be carried out properly to ensure samples cannot be contaminated or tampered with, and that testing procedures and analysis are accurate
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employees can't be made to take a test but, if they refuse when an employer has good grounds for testing, they may face disciplinary action