Random Drug and Alcohol Testing
- Maintain a safe working environment
- Fastest lab confirmations – next working day if required
- Nationwide sample collection network and sample collection training
- Rapid response on-site screening
- Test and confirm a wide range of drugs and their metabolites
- Essential for safety critical industries
- Bespoke testing solutions to meet your requirements
What is random drug and alcohol testing?
Random drug and alcohol testing – also known as ‘unannounced’ drug and alcohol testing – is one of the best ways of maintaining a safe working environment for your staff.
Testing at random throughout the year greatly reduces the chances of employees using tactics to avoid testing, or changing their habits in time to escape a positive result if they are misusing substances.
Random testing has also been proven to:
- Reduce workplace incidents/accidents
- Boost productivity
- Mitigate absenteeism
- Reduce the number of disciplinary procedures
- Protect the company’s reputation
- Prevent financial losses
Get a quote online now or contact our Workplace team today on 0333 600 1300 (select option 2) or email workplace@alphabiolabs.com to discuss your bespoke testing package
Around 25% of employees say that drugs or alcohol have affected them at work (CIPD)
Is random drug and alcohol testing legal?
Testing employees at random for drugs and alcohol is completely legal.
However, before implementing random drug and alcohol testing, you must ensure that your business has a robust substance misuse policy in place.
A drug and alcohol policy is a formal corporate document that:
- Defines the company’s stance on drugs and alcohol
- Ensures employees are kept informed on testing methods
- Outlines the frequency and grounds for testing
- Makes it clear how substance misuse issues will be handled
Having a substance misuse policy, along with back-to-lab confirmation of any non-negative test results, helps ensure that your testing is legally compliant, should an employee decide to dispute the results of the test for any reason.
Our Workplace team can help you create a drug and alcohol policy to suit the needs of your business or review an existing policy to ensure it is legally sound.
Contact us today for support with Drug & Alcohol Testing Policies.
Testing methods
We offer a variety of testing methods and solutions to suit all budgets, including Home Office approved-type testing devices from leading brands.
Each testing method offers a different detection window depending on your requirements.
We also understand that a non-negative result for drugs and alcohol can bring unwanted disruption and costs: that’s why we offer a rapid testing service to provide laboratory confirmation results the next working day, if required.
The table below outlines the recommended testing methods for random drug and alcohol testing, along with their detection windows – the period during which substances remain detectable by a drug or alcohol test.
| Type of test | Tests for | Detection window |
| Breath | Alcohol | Here and now / immediate results |
| Oral fluid | Drugs | Up to 48 hours |
| Urine | Drugs | Up to 4 days |
Random testing helps to deter the use of drugs and alcohol in the workplace
When to perform random drug and alcohol testing
Reasons to perform random drug and alcohol testing include:
- Deter employees from using drugs and alcohol at work
- Reduce the risk of workplace incidents/accidents
- Reduce absenteeism and mitigate financial losses
- Fulfil your responsibility as an employer, maintaining a safe working environment for all staff
If you are planning to apply random or unannounced drug and alcohol testing, the process needs to stand up to scrutiny, and should be included as part of your substance misuse policy.
To ensure the process is fair, you should always test a percentage of your workforce at random each time.
There is no law that states who should or should not be included in a policy. The decision as to which employees to include should be based on your business risks in line with Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (1999) and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
When introducing a substance misuse policy, we would always recommend management and employee awareness training, to embed your policy in company culture, and educate staff on the risks associated with workplace alcohol and drug misuse.
Sample collection options
Our drug and alcohol testing has been designed to run as smoothly as possible, from sample collection to the analysis of samples at our laboratory, and the rapid delivery of results.
We have a nationwide network of professional clinicians, who are fully qualified to collect samples 24/7, 365 days of the year.*
We also follow strict chain of custody procedures for sample collections, to ensure our drug and alcohol testing is legally defensible should an employee dispute the results for any reason.
Choose to book your sample collection with us:
- at a location of your choice, with one of our expertly-trained sample collectors
- at one of our nationwide walk-in centres
We also understand that some companies may prefer to collect their own samples in-house rather than use an external sample collector.
We have therefore designed our sample collection training specifically for this purpose, so you can be confident that your staff are fully equipped to collect a variety of samples for drug and alcohol testing.
Choose from in-person training, or online training followed by an in-person, practical assessment.
For more information on our sample collection training, call our Workplace team on 0333 600 1300 or email workplace@alphabiolabs.com
*Subject to contract.
Get in touch with one of our Workplace testing experts today for a no obligation quote
We looked at lots of suppliers, but AlphaBiolabs’ customer-focused approach is what really appealed to us. They have been a great partner to work with; their knowledge of testing protocols is second to none, as is the common-sense approach of their sample collectors. They were also forthcoming with best practice guidance on which testing solutions would best suit our needs. We would be happy to recommend them to other organisations.
Head of PeopleExcellent service with a fast response.
I have used others, but AlphaBiolabs are the best.
Safety Officer