Strict drug and alcohol policies are now being implemented more than ever by companies. With the availability and social acceptance of drugs and alcohol, controlling and preventing substance abuse in the workforce has proven to be more difficult now. The disruptive behavior and attitude an employee might have under the influence during work is one of the main reasons why companies push for better drug and alcohol policies. Preventive measures like more frequent, random, and reliable drug testing along with alcohol testing are done to help maintain workplace safety. When under the influence, one might present with several issues, like impairment of judgment, motor function, and coordination. These impairments could directly affect one’s productivity and safety at work.
What are the reliable alcohol and drug testing methods?
Alcohol testing can easily and accurately be done with machines like the BACtrack workplace breathalyzer. Still, to have reliable results, a company must also have a certified breath alcohol sample collector. Having a BACtrack workplace breathalyzer would also allow for more frequent alcohol tests when compared to urine testing, which is also time-consuming. An employee only needs to blow into the sterile tube and wait a couple of seconds for the results. Alcohol can be traced from as close as 15 mins of consumption up to almost 24 hours. This allows the company to closely monitor its employees’ Blood Alcohol Content (BAC), ensuring that no one is under the influence at work. Frequent alcohol testing along with reliable drug testing is used to help maintain the soberness of the workplace.
Blood tests are not commonly done despite being the most accurate and known as the gold standard for drug testing. This is probably because of its invasive nature; wherein trained phlebotomists are strictly required to collect the samples and a certified lab to analyze the results. Urine testing is one of the most common and reliable drug testing solutions done by companies. A typical urines test could find evidence of cocaine, marijuana, amphetamine, opiate, and alcohol usage. Despite not being the most accurate, urine testing makes up for it by being a reliable and less time-consuming method compared to waiting for a certified lab to analyze the results.
Importance
Reliable drug testing and frequent alcohol testing, despite being somewhat costly methods, still have more advantages than disadvantages. Maintaining the soberness and discipline of a company’s workforce could easily benefit their productivity, making up for any testing costs. Investing in machines like the BACtrack workplace breathalyzers could also help ease the costs of more frequent testing.
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