JANUARY 2018 | 21
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
TESTS, DRUGS AND THE PAYROLL
Suzannah Robin is a drug and alcohol safety expert at AlcoDigital. Here, she explains what an employer’s
obligations are when it comes to drugs in the workplace and describes the best methods for testing staff.
With the introduction in
recent years of roadside drug test-
ing, and the surge in drug-related
accidents at work, employers are
coming under increasing pres-
sure to ensure their staff are fit to
work, and that health and safety
aren’t compromised because of an
individual being impaired.
According to a survey in 2015
on employees from a range of
sectors, nearly a third of them ad-
mitted using drugs at work, with
some claiming to be ‘under the
influence’ every working day. In
fact, many of those admitting to
taking drugs were using cannabis
or other illegal narcotics.
Although there is still no legal
requirement for an employer to
adopt a drug or alcohol testing
policy, they do have an obligation
to maintain a safe working envi-
ronment as part of the Health &
Safety at Work Act.
If carried out with the proper
guidance and training, a drug
testing policy will not only make
a workplace safer, it will also help
reduce absenteeism and increase
worker productivity.
Drug tests
It isn’t always immediately ap-
parent which drug-testing method
will be the most suitable, so the
first step is to fully understand the
pros and cons for each type of
test available.
One of the most popular
choices for drug testing – but not
always the most effective – is test-
ing urine samples. For many years
these have been used as a reliable
and cost-effective form of drug
testing providing instant results
that can be undertaken in-house.
However, this form of testing
is not without its limitations. For
example, a urine test will often
not reveal if an individual has
consumed drugs in the last two
hours. So, if an incident occurred
in the workplace, a urine test
obtained immediately afterwards
will not determine if the employ-
ee was impaired by drugs at the
time the incident actually took
place.
Blood testing is the most accu-
rate method of establishing what
drugs are in a person’s system –
but the medical training and labo-
ratory analysis required can mean
it is beyond the reach for company
testing. Hair testing can give you
historic data of what drugs a per-
son has consumed – but not from
the most recent few weeks.
For this reason, oral fluid
collection has been established
as the go-to method of drug-test-
ing. With a far simpler collection
process, which can be observed
at all times and is therefore less
susceptible to tampering, the win-
dow of detection for the drugs in
saliva mimics that of blood testing
making it the method of choice
for UK police roadside testing, and
companies implementing drug
screening policies.
To test or not to test? Why random testing?
One of the things that concerns
companies is how their employees
are going to react to a new testing
policy.
Of course, there may be some
reluctance from staff, so employers
should always communicate clearly
with them before introducing
new policies, encouraging staff to
declare any medical or dependency
issues that could potentially affect
a drug test. Ensuring your work-
force fully understand the rationale
behind the decision, and what the
potential consequences of a posi-
tive test result will be are pivotal to
operating a best practice policy.
As a minimum, companies
should aim to test 100% of their
workforce every 12 months. A
pre-employment test will set in
place expectations for new staff
joining the company, establishing
from day one the policy on drugs
in the workplace. The policies and
testing methods used subsequent-
ly would then depend on your
day-to-day business activities and
employees’ duties. For example, a
company that employs commercial
drivers should always have a regu-
lar testing policy in place for both
drugs and alcohol. Random testing will enable an
employer to form a basic consent
agreement with their staff, acting as
a deterrent, and encouraging them
to be more aware of what they are
consuming and how this could
have an impact on their lives, and
those around them. In turn, it will
create a safer, healthier and more
stable working environment and
safeguard your business from the
potential fallout of lost revenue and
reputational damage.
Best practice policy
and training
Alongside setting a drug testing
policy for your business is the
question of exactly how it will be
put into practice day-to-day.
Whilst knowledge and informa-
tion is essential to determining ap-
propriate testing methods, properly
training personnel to carry out tests
is absolutely essential for making
sure that they are fully prepared
and capable of working within the
recommended guidelines.
AlcoDigital operates Alcohol and
Drugs Testing in the Workplace
training courses. To find out
more, visit www.alcodigital.co.uk