All You Need To Know About Drug And Alcohol Testing

Drugs and alcohol abuse negatively impacts employees' productivity and workplace safety. Most organizations maintain a human resource policy on alcohol and illicit drug use. In implementing such a policy, organizations can benefit from drug and alcohol testing services. This post highlights the types and methods of drugs and alcohol testing services available in the market. 

Types of Drugs and Alcohol Testing Services

Pre-Employment Testing 

This drugs and alcohol testing procedure occurs as part of pre-employment employee screening. Typically, potential workers undergo the drugs and alcohol test at the same clinic they have their medical assessment. Ordinarily, the worker provides a urine or blood specimen for analysis. Then the organization uses the negative or positive test results to make their hiring decisions. 

Random Testing 

Random drug and alcohol testing is an on-site screening procedure. Usually, the process involves testing a random group of employees at an unidentified work period. Thus, the employees do not know if they will be part of the screening or when the testing will happen. As a result, random testing is an effective deterrence measure for drug and alcohol abuse. 

Cause/Post-Incident Testing 

The organization can also request on-site drug and alcohol testing following a particular incident. For starters, the company can order for a "with-cause" screening when it suspects that an employee is under the influence of alcohol and illicit drugs. Typically, the suspicion may stem out from unusual behavior. Then, drug and alcohol testing service providers can undertake screening to investigate whether an employee involved in an incident was under the influence of illicit substances. Lastly, the request can also be part of abstinence monitoring. In this case, the company asks for drug and alcohol testing to support an employee who had a positive drug and alcohol test as part of their rehabilitation.

Drugs and Alcohol Testing Methods 

The testing approach usually depends on how long the drugs and alcohol substance stays in the body. Several factors determine how long the drug's effect lasts in the body system, including the type of drug, the amount used, frequency of use, medical condition, physical activity, and metabolism. 

The following are the five main methods of testing for drugs and alcohol in the body: 

• Blood test – this method is more invasive but more effective in showing the number of drugs in the blood
• Breath test –this approach uses a breathalyzer to screen for alcohol consumption 
• Hair test – the technique tests for the positive residue of drugs like cocaine and marijuana that remain in the hair for months 
• Saliva test – this method is effective only for recent drug use screening  
• Urine test – is the most common form of detecting alcohol and illicit substances, although it is easy to tamper with the urine samples

Do not let drugs and alcohol abuse compromise the health and safety of your employees and business operations. Contact a drug and alcohol testing services provider for onsite or clinic screening support.