Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy
- Safeguard your business and employees with confidence
- Bespoke testing solutions to help your company achieve its goals
- Rapid lab confirmations: same day results if required
- Operating for 15 years in the drug and alcohol testing sector
- Full chain of custody procedures
- Expert sample collection service and training for staff available
- Improve health and safety at work
Workplace drug and alcohol misuse policy
We understand that no two businesses will have exactly the same drug and alcohol policy requirements, so we provide bespoke solutions to ensure that you can safeguard your business and its employees with confidence.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, the employer has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and to develop a health and safety policy.
Using AlphaBiolabs to fully manage or provide advice regarding your drug and alcohol policy in conjunction with your health and safety procedures ensures that your drug and alcohol policy is independent and impartial. Our programme management and policy advice will also tailor your policy to your needs and provide solutions to any issues or limitations present.
What is a drug and alcohol/substance misuse policy?
- A corporate formal document which defines the company’s stance in relation to drugs and alcohol
- Clear and concise instructions for employer and employee
- Formal information on what is non-compliance of policy
- Details of how substance abuse issues will be handled
- Provides a procedure so that employees with a problem can seek assistance
The importance of having a robust drug and alcohol testing policy cannot be emphasised enough.
The policy is the foundation of your company’s drug and alcohol testing programme and provides the company’s approach to substance misuse.
It is important that managers and staff all know how your organisation will deal with drug and alcohol-related issues
Drug and alcohol testing policy support
Consultancy is one of the crucial first steps to creating or amending a drug and alcohol policy. It can highlight its importance and open up communication about the expectations required of employees at all levels.
This will usually be conducted at the early stages of the introduction of a workplace drug testing policy or before significant amendments or modifications to an existing policy. Consultation can identify what aspects of workplace testing are needed and will be beneficial, specifically addressing your limitations and needs, without any obligation to use our services.
Drug and Alcohol/Substance Misuse Policy Benefits
Implementing a drug and alcohol policy can have a positive impact on the workplace and can provide benefits from various points of view within the business including:
The Company shareholders:
- Maintaining the reputation and integrity of the business
- Reduction in costs associated with sickness and staff turnover
- Less workplace incidents, meaning less claims being made against the business
- Testing at all levels in the business can be impartial
- Safety of staff and public
- Ensures the business is operating lawfully
Management/employers:
- Increased productivity of workforce
- More comprehensive risk assessments
- Improves health and safety precautions
- Less workplace incidents
- Reduction in theft
- Reduction in staff turnover and need for recruitment
Employees:
- Understanding of the company standards in relation to substance misuse
- Provides information on what the policy implementation means for them in particular (without clear and concise guidelines they may be more likely to dispute the testing)
- Less chance of being hurt in a workplace incident
- Testing can be used as proof of innocence when they have been accused of substance abuse
- Reduces pressure to take or sell drugs that may otherwise be encouraged by other employees
- Reduction in health issues associated with drug and alcohol misuse
Bespoke testing solutions to help your company achieve its goals
Why use Alphabiolabs for your workplace testing?
- Start-to-finish drug and alcohol management available if required
- Consultation with no obligation
- Impartial advice
- In-house policy review
- Customised to suit your needs
- All information will be kept strictly confidential whether you decide to use our service or not
- Expertise in drug and alcohol testing
- Guidance at any stage in the process
Workplace test sample collection
AlphaBiolabs has a dedicated, fully qualified sample collection team available around the clock, every day of the year. This is ideal if you require sample collection as part of scheduled workplace drug testing or at short notice for random drug testing or for-cause testing.
Our workplace sample collectors follow strict procedures to ensure the chain of custody is retained and that confidentiality remains throughout the whole testing process.
This means that our workplace drug testing results are legally defensible. This is particularly important if the person being tested is likely to take legal action to contest the results of the drug test for any reason.
AlphaBiolabs can also train a representative of your own staff to perform workplace drug testing and sample collection to the highest standards.
This means that they will also be able to collect samples for workplace drug testing and retain the chain of custody. Competency training is also available for those who are already trained in sample collection, to ensure that these standards are adhered to by your chosen representative.
Sample collection training available
Oral fluid drug testing
Oral fluid drug testing is a workplace drug testing method that can be used to determine whether someone is misusing drugs by taking a sample of their saliva and analysing it for particular substances.
An immediate negative result may mean that no further action needs to be taken, but a non-negative result will then undergo confirmation testing from the laboratory to determine exactly what substance was taken and in what quantities.
This form of workplace drug testing can be particularly useful if you do not have anywhere suitably private to collect the sample, if the sample collector is of a different gender to the donor or if a urine sample cannot be provided for any particular reason.
Oral fluid drug testing is known as a ‘narrow window’ form of testing as its period of detection is up to 48 hours, although this can depend on the particular substance taken.
Urine drug testing
Urine drug testing is a workplace drug testing method that can be used to determine whether someone is misusing drugs by taking a sample of their urine and analysing it for particular substances.
This form of testing can be particularly useful for on-site / point of care testing as an immediate negative result will mean that no further action is necessary. A non-negative result may require confirmation testing from the laboratory in order to determine exactly what substance was taken and in what quantities.
This form of workplace drug testing has been established for many years, with an abundance of scientific evidence to support its accuracy when all the relevant procedures are followed.
Urine drug testing is known as a ‘narrow-window’ form of testing and its period of detection is approximately 4 days although this can depend on the particular substance taken.
Improve health and safety at work
Hair drug testing
Hair drug testing is a form of workplace drug testing that can be used, usually to support other methods such as oral fluid or urine testing.
It can be particularly useful for a more comprehensive overview of a person’s drug use as it is known as a ‘wide-window’ form of testing, which can determine a history of drug intake for up to 12 months.
In general, hair drug testing is an extremely useful form of testing, and can provide support to workplace testing.
Breath alcohol testing
The person being tested for alcohol use blows into a breath alcohol device, and the results are given as a digital readout.
The readout is a number, known as the breath alcohol concentration (BAC), which shows the level of alcohol in the breath at the time the test was taken. It does not measure past use of alcohol.
We have a number of devices we can use for breath alcohol testing dependent on your individual needs.
Get in touch today
Get in touch with one of our workplace testing experts today for a no obligation quote
We thought that introducing a drug and alcohol random test policy would be fraught with difficulties. However, the professional assistance and advice we received made the task very simple.
The staff that were called for samples also commented on how simple the process was and how nice the tester was.
HR Manager