Drugs & Alcohol Testing In The Workplace

Workplace drug testing and alcohol screening are important tools in keeping employees safe. Misuse of drugs and alcohol is thought to cause up to 40% of industrial accidents – costing the UK up to £36bn each year.

Taking steps to protect your employees and your business from these risks is vital. One of the most effective ways to do this is through workplace drug and alcohol testing. It helps spot potential issues before they become a more immediate risk, and can also help employees understand the seriousness of that risk.

However, this can only happen if your testing is run effectively. One way to ensure that is by engaging an experienced occupational health team to run your testing programme, to make sure it is always carried out sensitively, accurately and legally compliant.

Who needs drug and alcohol testing in the workplace?

Many workplaces could benefit from drug and alcohol testing, but it is vital for safety-critical workplaces.

Any workplace where vehicles or heavy machinery are commonly used or where employees regularly work at height, on their own or in confined spaces needs to consider implementing a drug and alcohol testing programme.

The benefits of workplace drug and alcohol testing

Reducing the misuse of alcohol or drugs benefits both businesses and employees in a range of ways:

How testing supports employers

Under The Health and Safety At Work Act 1974 you are legally obligated to protect your staff from unnecessary risk. Substance misuse could cause a significant risk to many workplaces, increasing the chance of accidents and injuries as well as reducing productivity.

With workplace drug and alcohol testing, you can reduce instances of substance abuse and their associated risks – but only if carried out in a legally robust and supportive way. Working with an external partner like David Barber Occupational Health gives you access to a reliable testing programme that won’t disrupt your business or upset your employees.

How testing supports employees

Substance misuse doesn’t just increase the risk of harm to the employee engaged in it – it also increases the risk for those around them. The more work you do to reduce risk, the more you will be supporting your employees – this includes steps like introducing testing.

Of course, the support you offer your employees doesn’t have to end there. Putting in place a robust drug and alcohol policy, and offering signposting and support to those struggling with it further helps employees too.

The Drug and Alcohol Testing Methods That We Use

We offer two types of testing methods to help you support your workplace as effectively as possible. All our tests are sensitive and reliable to make the testing process as straightforward as possible.

Instant Drug And Alcohol Testing

Our instant drug and alcohol testing methods give immediate results. They are perfect for on-site testing as there is no waiting involved – we can carry out the test and have same-day answers.

Standalone Lab Analysis

With standalone lab analysis, you don’t get an instant result. Instead, we send the sample away for lab analysis only.

This lets us get a more in-depth and reliable result but they will take longer to return.

(Both testing methods will return a negative or non-negative result. For a negative result, no further action needs to be taken. If a non-negative result is returned, we’ll forward the test to a United Kingdom Accredited Service (UKAS) lab for further analysis.)

How we carry out alcohol and drug testing

Drug and alcohol testing can, by reputation and weight of consequence, be very stressful. To minimise this stress, we only test using non-invasive methods that are easy and painless for those being tested.

For instant alcohol testing, we use breathalysers that are approved by the Home Office. Testees simply blow into the breathalyser and it measures their current blood alcohol content. This is a gold standard method for testing alcohol consumption, giving instant results without causing any pain or distress to the person taking the test.

Our drug testing programme uses urine analysis, either with an instant kit or lab analysis. In both cases, samples are given under strict conditions to ensure reliability while still maintaining the privacy and comfort of your employees.

When should you carry out workplace testing?

Workplace drugs and alcohol testing should be carried out at a schedule that works for you and your employees. The exact timings can be worked out with our team, but here are the most commonly used programs that we offer.

Pre-employment Checks

This takes place after you offer a potential new employee a role but before they start work. It can be listed as a condition of their employment, particularly in safety-critical and other high-pressure jobs.

The benefit of pre-employment checks is that every new employee is tested without racking up the cost of paying for all of your staff at once.

However, it can be less reliable as the test is only taken before employment starts. To improve the effectiveness it is usually better to pair this with randomised testing.

Randomised Testing

If you want to get an overview of your entire workplace, randomised testing is a cost-effective way of doing it. With this method you randomly select a proportion of your staff to test, meaning you pay for fewer tests but get a snapshot of the whole team.

Legally, employees must be chosen completely randomly for this type of testing. The ideal sample size will depend on team size and workplace demands, so we can work with you to find a suitable number.

Periodic Testing

If you have employees working in safety-critical roles where drug or alcohol use would create a serious health and safety risk, then periodic testing may be a better option. This is carried out at regular intervals on team members who work high-risk jobs to protect their safety.

For large teams this can get expensive, so is best used only when necessary such as safety critical work.

For Cause Testing

For cause (or with cause) testing is usually used in the aftermath of an accident or incident that needs investigating further. It can only be carried out if you have a legitimate suspicion that an employee poses a serious safety risk in the workplace as a result of substance misuse.

It is a legally sensitive area, so if you think it is necessary for your workplace you can contact our expert team for more advice.

Going beyond testing with workplace drug and alcohol support

Alcohol and drug testing alone isn’t enough to stop substance misuse from becoming a problem in your workplace. The more holistic your approach to drug and alcohol misuse is, the more effective it will be – we can help you take a multifaceted approach to minimise it as much as possible.

From a wellbeing programme that supports your staff in making healthier choices to helping you put together policies that support your business AND your employees, our experienced and expert team is happy to share the advice you need.

A team you can trust with your workplace alcohol and drug testing

We are perfectly qualified to run your workplace testing effectively, so you don’t have to worry about unreliable tests or legal compliance.

The David Barber Occupational Health team are trained to UKAS standard for drug and alcohol testing at work, while all our technicians have had extensive in-house training. Our previous clients include Nitto Denko, Hinckley Point Power Station and Dacrylate Paints, to name but a few.

If you want to keep your workforce safe, effective and productive, contact David Barber Occupational Health to book Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace in Derby