Workplace drug and alcohol testing is often a sensitive subject as there are good and bad ways to go about it. We’ve touched upon before the importance of having a clear policy in place, but it’s also important to use a trusted testing company to carry out the tests.
There are five ways a company can test and detect drugs or alcohol in employees systems, with some being more accurate or more invasive than others.
1. Urine – This is the most common and is less invasive than some other methods as it can be readily done anywhere a bathroom is available. While this method is primarily used to detect drug and alcohol use within the past week, it can sometimes test the last 30 days.
2. Blood – These tests are quite invasive as blood must be drawn for a sample and some people may feel uncomfortable with that. While very accurate, blood testing tends to be the most expensive method of testing. There is a very narrow window of detection, so blood tests are often used after an accident has occurred to detect if there has been any recent consumption.
3. Saliva – Testing saliva is a relatively easy and less-invasive test than blood testing, and is also used to detect recent drug or alcohol use within the last 24 hours.
4. Hair – While more sensitive than urine or saliva testing, testing an employees hair is one of the most trusted methods, and often used by law officials and organisations as it is very accurate. This is the best testing method to determine drug use over a long period of time, sometimes up to 4 months.
5. Sweat – Testing a person’s sweat is relatively uncommon as the results can be tainted by a number of factors, including low concentrations of detectable drugs, and can cause a false positive.
Call us on 01302 365036 if you need information about Drug and Alcohol testing for your business or organisation. Workplace Drug Testing available in Doncaster, Barnsley, Sheffield and throughout South Yorkshire.
