Employee Drug Testing - How To Choose A Reliable Method?

From increased absenteeism to reduced productivity, rise in occupational accidents to low morale and disciplinary problems, workplace drug and alcohol use is creating significant losses for many businesses. It is estimated that the cost of substance abuse for U.S. employers exceed $100 billion every year. Moreover, recent studies have also shown that 75% of drug abusers in US are employed and 8% of workers in any company abuse drugs.

These facts indicate the need to combat drug abuse at workplace using effective programs. Employee drug testing is one of the most popular and comprehensive programs employed by many companies. This article explains you about various drug testing methods and programs, specially meant for employee testing.

Common workplace drug testing methods
Urine, blood and saliva tests are the three popular methods used by employers. Let us know about them in detail.

•Urine drug test: Urinalysis is a commonly used testing method to detect recent drug abuse. Its results are accurate and reliable, provided the sample is not adulterated. Urine test kits are available in two types - test strips and test cups. They provide instant results and there is no need to take any professional help to administer them. Urine kits can detect up to 12 drugs using a single specimen. And the window period of drug detection varies for each drug.

•Saliva drug test: This test is conducted using the oral fluids of the donor. Sample collection for this test is less hazardous, less embarrassing and has no privacy issues. The main advantage of this test is that there is no possibility to adulterate or alter the sample. This test is effective to detect the current drug use. A maximum of 5-6 drugs can be detected using saliva test kits.

•Hair drug test: This test is conducted using a hair sample. It is used in rare situations, since the final test has to be done at the laboratory. However, hair test kits have longer detection periods; that is, they can detect drugs up to 90 days. It is very difficult to adulterate the sample in this test. Six to seven different drugs can be detected using this test.

Various types of employee drug testing programs:
There are four types of employee drug testing programs which are conducted at different periods during employment in many organizations. Let us see what they are:

•Pre-employment: It is conducted on candidates before joining the company. Once the applicant gets selected for the job, pre-employment drug test is conducted to confirm that he is not a drug abuser. Urine drug test is generally used for pre-employment testing.

•Random: As the name suggests, an employer can conduct this drug test at any point of time during the employment. This method is quite helpful for detecting the occasional or regular drug abusing habits among the employees. Both urine and saliva kits can be used to conduct these tests.

•Post-accident: It is conducted when an employee meets with an on-job accident or injury, and when the employer suspects that it happened due to the drug use. But, in order to conduct this test, it is necessary for the employer to submit clear evidences showing that the accident was due to the drug or alcohol influence of the employee. Saliva and urine tests are generally used if the employee comes back to work within two days. But if he takes more time, hair test kits are commonly used.

•Reasonable suspicion: This test is conducted when the employer has some doubt on an employee for drug or alcohol abuse. In order to confirm drug use, an employer conducts this test. But, if the test proves negative for drug abuse, it becomes a problem for the employer. So, proper evidences are required to conduct this test. Saliva drug test kits are appropriate for this kind of testing as they detect immediate drug abuse.

These are the different types of methods commonly used in employee drug testing programs. Every business, irrespective of its size, should employ effective drug testing programs to create a safe working workplace.