Drug Screening

No business is immune to the problems associated with the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse contributes to on-the-job accidents, lower productivity, greater absenteeism, higher health-care costs and heightened threat to the health and safety of employees.

DeLisle helps companies reduce the risk by performing substance-abuse testing to detect and deter substance abuse. DeLisle combines industries standard testing methodologies with our experience to ensure clients receive accurate results.

Testing can have a number of purposes, including:

• Pre-Employment Screening – where applicants are subject to passing a drug test.
• For Cause Testing – where a trained manager identifies apparent signs of impairment through drug use.
• Routine Testing – where the workforce are notified in advance of testing.
• Random – unannounced testing used largely for employees in safety sensitive or business critical posts.
• Post Accident Testing – following an accident or incident where an employee is suspected of drink or drug related impairment or required by employers written program.

In all instances, an employee’s permission must be sought before a testing regime is introduced. Here, it can be helpful if a suitable testing regime and collection protocol is discussed at all levels within the company as part of the company’s initial evaluation process. Generally, successful policies are those that have the agreement and backing of the whole workforce and are drawn up following a thorough consultation process.

The process of policy implementation should include substance misuse awareness training for all employees along with training for managers to help them identify the signs and symptoms of drug misuse. Employees with a dependency problem should be encouraged to seek early advice and help.

Types of Drug Testing

The main testing matrices for drugs are blood, urine, oral fluid and hair. Blood tests are expensive and invasive and require medically trained staff so are infrequently used. Urine and hair tests can be used in different circumstances depending on the information sought.