Workplace safety is a top priority of many companies worldwide. Employers can maintain safety through extensive workplace procedures, policies, and programs that ensure safe practices at work. As we all know, alcohol and drug consumption can lead to a handful of adverse effects. These negative effects can cause specific impairments, increasing the likelihood of workplace injuries and accidents. These impairments within judgement, behaviour, memory, reaction time (slowed), and coordination can affect an employee’s ability to work safely and perform adequately. Therefore, employers need to prevent alcohol and drug usage in the workplace. Workplace testing is an effective procedure that companies can use to detect and deter substance consumption. Companies would provide alcohol and drug tests to single out potentially dangerous employees during these procedures. Additionally, several companies nowadays also require an alcohol test for employment as part of their hiring process.

Finding and hiring the perfect employee is hard. An employer should consider a variety of factors when looking for an applicant. The most important is checking for history or signs of alcohol and drug use problems. A drug and alcohol test for employment during the hiring process can help identify individuals with potentially dangerous habits. Furthermore, employees that are fit to work are more likely to adjust to their new roles efficiently. New employees that don’t need a long adjustment period can help maintain better overall workplace productivity.

Alcohol Test for Employment: Importance

Undoubtedly, accidents and injuries are more likely to happen due to alcohol consumption in the workplace. The alcohol-induced impairments can drastically affect an employee’s ability to operate heavy machinery or vehicles. Even simple tasks may seem more difficult for those under the influence. Therefore, employers need to ensure that none of their workers consumes alcohol before and during work. However, it may be challenging to keep all employees in check every day. Thus, it would seem more practical for employers to ensure that their employees do not have potentially harmful habits like constant overconsumption of alcohol. An alcohol test for employment can now be a crucial part of a company’s hiring process. Employers can use devices like the workplace breathalyser from Breathalysers Australia to provide quick and reliable on-site alcohol tests. Employers can even perform a breathalyser test efficiently right after the interview.

A negative result during an alcohol test for employment is now as important as an applicant’s credentials and skills. Even highly experienced applicants can quickly be rejected if they test positive for alcohol during a pre-employment test. A positive alcohol test during pre-employment is looked down upon mainly because employers know that an alcohol use problem can lead to:

• High absenteeism
• High chances of overdue projects/work
• Poor productivity (sloppiness)
• High turnover rates
• Poor quality of work
• Lack of interest in work
• Workflow disruption for other employees (coworkers might need to make up for their lack of work)
• Bad workplace relationships

Drug and Alcohol Test for Employment: Workplace Procedures

When applying for a job, you are most likely to encounter breath tests (through a breathalyser) and urine tests. These are the standard tests done during a drug and alcohol test for employment. Companies would often use devices like a workplace breathalyser from Breathalysers Australia to check for alcohol during a breath test. Alcohol breath tests can check for an employee’s Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Furthermore, a BAC of 0.01% or more is considered a “positive test” during a workplace test. As for drug tests, employers would typically use a drug test urine or saliva kit. The samples would be placed in a container with a solution. The solution’s colour would change based on the results. Generally, there would be no change in colour when the test is negative (the container would remain clear).

Any form of alcohol, no matter how small, can be dangerous to the workplace. Therefore, employers would also often provide regular tests during work hours. Upon hiring a new employee, employers usually require them to sign a workplace policy agreement. Furthermore, this agreement will allow the company to legally perform specific workplace tests on them if a particular situation arises. Aside from an alcohol test for employment, employers can also perform these tests on their employees:

• Post-accident/incident test: tests given to employees involved in an accident.
• Random workplace testing: randomly tests employees
• Blanket test: mass workplace testing
• Reasonable cause testing: based on evidence, reports, and suspicion)
• Return to work test: typically, after a vacation

Alcohol Test for Employment: Are breath tests reliable?

Breath tests are standard in workplaces, roadside screenings, and hospital screenings. Moreover, police officers and medical professionals would rely on these tests to help them maintain safer roads and provide adequate medical prescriptions. Nowadays, companies worldwide often use breath tests to help them prevent workplace injuries and accidents. Wall-mounted breathalysers are now typical in construction, mining, and manufacturing industries. Devices like the workplace breathalyser from Breathalysers Australia can help provide frequent and reliable tests. Without a doubt, these devices play a vital role in checking an employee’s sobriety. Therefore, you’d most likely be offered a breath test during an alcohol test for employment. Moreover, breathalysers are also highly portable, allowing employers to use them in several other situations.

Breathalysers from Breathalysers Australia

Breathalysers Australia is the leading supplier of highly effective workplace and personal breathalysers. Their breathalysers come second to none. This is because they have breathalysers that use professional-grade fuel cell sensors. These are the same sensors you could find in a police officer’s breathalyser. Moreover, these sensors are also only sensitive to ethyl alcohol, ensuring employers that they are less likely to provide false-positive results. This accuracy can come in handy when testing employees that have diabetes or are on a low-calorie diet. Workplace testing during an alcohol test for employment can now be as accurate as a roadside or medical test.

Aside from accuracy, the BACtrack workplace breathalysers from Breathalysers Australia also have other helpful features. These features help make breath tests with these breathalysers quick and easy. It only takes 10 to 15 seconds for these breathalysers to process your BAC results. Additionally, these breathalysers have one-button operations. You can quickly begin your breath test with just a push of a button. Moreover, these features can help employers provide more frequent tests, making these breathalysers the best to have for the workplace.

Conclusion

Employee sobriety can play a vital role in a company’s success. This is because it can affect overall productivity. Furthermore, effective workplace policies and procedures can help improve safety. Improving workplace safety through an alcohol test for employment can help prevent accidents and injuries. Moreover, fewer accidents in the workplace can also help improve a company’s annual earnings. Without a doubt, the workplace breathalysers from Breathalysers Australia can also help reduce:

• Healthcare costs (from accidents)
• Accident compensations costs
• Costs of needing to repair damaged goods or machinery
• Costs of damaged products