Drug Laboratory Testing in the Workplace: A Guide

Drug testing is a big business these days. And since the mid-1980s, drug testing has become more and more common, and probably the group that is tested most often is prospective employees. With strict workplace safety legislation and the fact that employees can use dangerous equipment or access sensitive information, employers want to ensure that their employees are not drug abusers. And drugs, the primary culprits that stray people from the right path, are being recognised and tackled by various employee programs. In some companies, drug and alcohol screening has become mandatory for several reasons; therefore, these companies have partnered with reputed laboratories that provide regular drug laboratory testing services.

Why Must Employers Consider Drug Laboratory Testing?

Drug testing is an excellent way to create awareness of addiction. After all, employers understand that it is both social responsibility and for their benefit to discourage drug addicts from getting into organisations. Besides this, various reasons would compel an employer to test job applicants and current employees, and they are:

• Discouraging the staff from drug abuse.
• Preventing the hiring of a person who uses illegal substances.
• Detecting alcohol and drug problems of a person early on.
• Improving workplace safety and protecting people from abusing co-workers.
• Avoiding a decrease in the productivity of the company.
• Preventing an increase in violence in the workplace.
• Promoting public safety as consumers or clients of a workplace can have confidence in the service they receive.

How to Conduct Drug Laboratory Testing for Employees

If you are interested in drug testing for your employees, you first need to know that there are two methods to do the tests or examinations: laboratory testing and the drug test kit.

So, in case of laboratory testing, you would need to request your employees to go to a certified laboratory and provide their samples. Or you can call lab technicians to collect the samples of each employee. The results will be available within 24 hours of sample collection, and if the result is positive, the sample is further analysed to determine the drug type consumed.

On the other hand, in the case of a drug test kit, you must purchase one of the instant drug test kits available on the market and perform the test in the office. Moreover, if the test turns out to be positive, the employees must be asked to visit the laboratory and get a detailed analysis. This will be an expensive option for you to get the test done because for a huge number of employees and you would need to buy numerous kits, and they are not cheap.

It would be better to team up with reputable and certified laboratories that perform drug testing for companies. One accredited by NATA is preferable because these laboratories give you the best possible services in terms of accuracy and reliability. Partnering with a certified laboratory will also provide peace of mind that you will receive only accurate, reliable results and eliminate any possibility of being charged with defamation. For more updates, visit: https://www.unfoldedmagzine.com/

Also, ensure the lab you choose for drug laboratory testingcan test a wide range of drugs or only the drugs you are concerned about. Some labs do not test for marijuana, for instance. Besides this, you must inform your employees about how drug tests work and that they are being conducted. Also, it would be best to employ the split sample method, which means only a small portion of the specimen is initially tested while the remaining sample is reserved for future testing. This way, if there is any mistake or question of accuracy, testing can be repeated without your employee being requested to provide a sample again.