What is Workplace Drug Testing?
Workplace Drug Testing is the name given to Health Care programmes in which employees in a company or business provide a specimen or swab for testing and if appropriate further laboratory analysis with the specific aim of determining whether substances may be present which could affect safety or behaviour in the workplace. As such a workplace testing programme should be part of the overall health and safety policy of the company. Such a programme will aim to detect any person who has taken certain specified drugs or alcohol before arriving or whilst at work.
The programme is always strictly confidential between the laboratory and a nominated representative of the company management. The testing programme is agreed between the employer and testing organisation and usually involves one or more of the three following scenarios:

* Pre-employment drug screening
* Post-incident drug screening
* Unannounced or random drug screening

Employers Legal Liabilities
Employers have a number of responsibilities and statutory duties towards employees, the public and the employees of other organisations who may be working on their premises under:

* Health and Safety at Work Legislation - providing safe place to work, knowing an employee is under the influence of drink or drugs whilst driving or using machinery.

* Misuse of Drugs Legislation - owner/occupier of premises facing prosecution if drugs are found or being traded on the premises.

* Transport and Works Legislation - makes it an offence for certain safety related tasks to be undertaken whilst "being unfit to work" as a result of the use of drink or drugs.

Drug Abuse in the Workplace can result in:
* Slow reactions/increase in accidents
* Difficulties in working relationships
* Impaired judgement
* Low productivity
* Sickness and Absenteeism
* Poor quality of work
leading to a loss of revenue for your company.

Drug users are not always immediately recognisable and do not always conform to a stereotype. By the time drug misuse is identified problems may have arisen.

Therefore the time is right to set in place a policy and start
DRUG SCREENING IN THE WORKPLACE