Workplace Drug and Alcohol Testing

Workplace drug testing

Increased productivity, decreased costs and maintaining the reputation of your company are not the only benefits of implementing a successful drug testing policy: it will also mean that your business is operating lawfully to ensure the safety of your employees and the general public under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (among others).

The increased availability of drugs can also lead to critical staffing problems for your business or even legal action. Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) admitted in 2017 that one in seven of its employees contracted to work on Ireland’s railways failed a drug test in the last year.

Drug and alcohol training

It is vital to raise awareness and educate staff about the company’s obligations and their individual responsibilities concerning drugs and alcohol within the workplace. This reduces any ambiguity about what is unacceptable and provides guidance on what action will be taken if someone is involved with, or accused of, drug or alcohol misuse within the workplace. AlphaBiolabs can customise this training for specific industry sectors, making it relevant for employees at all levels within the business.

We can also train a representative of your own staff to perform workplace drug and alcohol testing, as well as sample collection to the highest standards. This means that they will be able to collect samples for workplace testing and retain the chain of custody. Competency training is also available for those already trained in sample collection, to ensure that these high standards are adhered to.

Random drug and alcohol testing

Random drug and alcohol testing is an ideal way to ensure that your employees are working in a safe environment. Routine testing has been shown to reduce accidents, absenteeism and litigation, which can all impact on business productivity.

It can also save your business money in lost revenue and help safeguard health and safety measures. AlphaBiolabs can help you to create a bespoke workplace drug and alcohol testing programme for your business and implement this policy for a fully managed solution.

For-cause drug and alcohol testing

For-cause screening is also known as with-cause testing. It is used as part of a drug and alcohol policy when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that there is a misuse of drugs or alcohol in the workplace. For example, suspicions may be aroused by an individual behaving oddly, an allegation or tip-off, following a workplace incident or when drugs and/or alcohol are found within the workplace.

Pre-employment testing services

Testing for drugs and alcohol is particularly important during the recruitment process to ensure the future safety of a company and its employees. To avoid employing new staff with pre-existing drug and alcohol-related problems, and to prevent introducing any workplace-related illicit drug and alcohol issues, AlphaBiolabs can perform a pre-employment drug and alcohol hair strand analysis.

In addition, drug screening can be performed on urine samples and a breath test can be used to instantly check for the presence of alcohol.

Post-rehab and return-to-work testing

Following a previous confirmed positive drug or alcohol test, post-rehabilitation testing is used to check if employees are misusing drugs or alcohol. It is also known as return-to-work or follow-up testing and can form part of an employee’s reintegration to work.

AlphaBiolabs can provide confidential and customised testing to fit your exact business needs, either as part of a new treatment or rehabilitation programme or as part of an existing one.

Drug and alcohol testing policy

AlphaBiolabs understands that no two businesses will have exactly the same drug and alcohol policy requirements, so we provide bespoke solutions. We can help your company implement a substance and alcohol abuse implementation programme from start to finish. We can create your policy, conduct the screening process, and offer full staff training in identifying drug and alcohol issues among your employees.