Drug and alcohol testing

Service enhancements - employee and workplace wellbeing

Drug & Alcohol Testing

Drug and alcohol testing

In order to protect your business from drugs and alcohol misuse, it’s important for your staff to receive professional drug and alcohol testing.

Protecting your business from drugs and alcohol misuse is a critical part of keeping employee’s safe, reducing accidents and protecting your business brand. Fusion can offer a wide range of services to support you in this area, from consultancy to providing the collection service:

• Expert Policy Review
• Routine Screening
• Random Screening
• For Cause Testing

In today’s society, one in ten people would fail a random drug test*

Routine drug and alcohol testing

Routine drug and alcohol testing is scheduled and is typically performed on current employees at consistent time periods throughout the year. Many companies choose to perform annual periodic testing – especially if employees are required to undergo an annual physical. Since periodic testing is a scheduled, announced test, it can present a drawback in that employees who do use drugs are sometimes able to cease their drug or alcohol use or otherwise take measures to undermine the integrity of their drug and alcohol test results.

Go Sober for October
employee led health and safety at work

Random drug and alcohol testing

Random drug and alcohol testing is a strong deterrent to drug users because it is conducted on an unannounced basis. Using a random selection process an employer selects one or more individuals from all the employees included in the employer’s workplace drug and alcohol testing program. By using a random selection process, employers ensure that there is no bias and that all employees have an equal chance of being selected, even those who have been drug and alcohol tested recently. Random drug and alcohol testing can be more effective at detecting and deterring drug and alcohol use than pre-employment testing because employees do not know when they may be selected for testing.

Cause drug and alcohol testing

For cause drug and alcohol testing, is performed when supervisors have evidence or reasonable cause to suspect an employee of drug or alcohol use. Evidence is based upon direct observation, either by a supervisor or another employee. Specific reasons for reasonable suspicion testing include physical evidence of illicit substances, patterns of erratic or abnormal behaviour, disorientation or confusion and an inability to complete routine tasks or this may be invoked following an accident or incident at work.

Psychoactive Substances Act 2016
drug and alcohol testing policy

Drug and Alcohol Testing

By offering your employees Drug and Alcohol Testing, you can inform them about:

  • Your company’s policy on drug and alcohol misuse
  • Understanding fully informed consent
  • Why and when they may be tested
  • What will happen if they produce a positive sample
  • What happens when the laboratory confirms a result

24-34-year-olds are most likely to test positive for drugs or alcohol misuse

Over 20% of respondents admitted turning up to work, coming down from drugs*

*The 2014 Global Drug Survey (GDS) was conducted during November/December 2013 with nearly 80,000 respondents worldwide.

Drug & Alcohol Testing Training

Did you know we also offer staff training for drug and alcohol testing. We can train your test to administer tests so you can do it in-house. For more information visit our drug and alcohol testing training page.

drug and alcohol testing training

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the procedure for a drug and alcohol test?

Workplace drug and alcohol testing is there to ensure that all employees are free from impairment and are able to undertake their role without putting themselves or others at risk. It may take place when an employee first joins a company, after a particular incident, or as part of a random screening programme. The tests will include a trained technician performing either a urine or oral fluid test. Breathe alcohol tests will also be carried out if required.

 

The procedure for drug and alcohol testing should ideally be written out in company policies. Any tests or searches should be conducted with appropriate respect and accommodations, for example providing the opportunity for same-sex technicians or members of staff and having a witness present.

Can an employee be forced to take a drug and alcohol test?

If an employer wants to test their employees for drugs, they are at liberty to do so, however they need to obtain consent from the workers. While the employees can refuse to take the test, if there are grounds for testing under contractual health and safety policy, this could lead to disciplinary action or dismissal.

 

If the employer is seeking to perform random drug tests those should be truly random, and singling out any particular group, unless justified by their positions, can be classified as discriminatory.

Will the results of the test remain in the employee's medical records?

The results won’t be on an employee’s medical records; however, they are the property of the employer.

Can the test be circumvented?

There are mechanisms within a test to avoid adulteration, such as temperature and PH balance. Speak to a member of our team who can advise.

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