04/07/2011 by admin.

Business drug and alcohol testing is growing, and now forms an important element of general health screening for job applicants, accross a wide spectrum of industry. The growth in drug use has seen more and more employers addressing the issues of drug misuse, dependency and social recreational use creeping into the workplace and employee productivity and safety. Pre-employment drug screening has seen the greatest growth in recent years, and now extends far beyond the safety critical employment roles.

Employers are perfectly at liberty to request applicants provide a drug screen sample as part of any job application. Prospective employees may decline. There is no current UK legislation preventing an employer from excluding a candidate on the basis that they have refused to provide a sample for drug screening as part of the companies routine pre-employment screening. As long as the drug screening is routine, this does not currently constitute discrimination of any kind. Indeed companies can argue that they hold a duty of care to ensure no employee undertakes duties while under the influence of drugs or alcohol which may make both them and their environment unsafe for themselves and fellow workers. The last argument is much stronger where the employment role includes safety critical duties.

Pre-employment drug testing is therefore one of the most easy and common programmes of drug screening to implement and operate. We are often asked by companies what is the most common package of drugs, or minimum range of drugs which is expected in a drug screening program. The answer is not always straight forward, as some consideration should be given to the target demographic and also local drug availability and usage patterns. As a base guide we would recommend a baseline of 5 or 6 drug groups, to which other local or industry specific additional can be made. FOR UK EMPLOYMENT DRUG TESTING we would recommend the screen cover  Cannabis, Cocaine, Opiates, Methamphetamine & Amphetamine +/- Benzodiazepines For most screening a 5 panel drug test kits is the best option for urine drug testing and if saliva drug testing is preferred then a 6 drug saliva testing kit for Cannabis, Cocaine, opiates, Amphetamine, Methamphetamine and PCP is a great option. A wide range of urine and saliva drug test kits are currently available.

Buyers should ensure that packs are from a reputable specialist supplier, offering full technical support and cross reference data for the kits. All drug screening kits should be properly branded CE marked professional packs with original data sheet and both CE mark, manufacturers data and EU representative details for the CE quality mark (CE mark alone is not good enough) the product you buy should be healthcare standard class1 biotech imported as an IVDD (In Vitro Diagnostic Device) and stored correctly by the distributor. Ensure the supplier has over 10 years experience of drug screening biotechnology and has medically trained staff with clinical experience of drug screening available to advise you as part of the service.

Posted in Employee drug testing, Drug Tests at work, Business drug testing kits, Business drug screening, drug testing work, pre-employment Drug Testing, Workplace drug testing, Drug testing at work, Drug testing in construction industry, Drug testing in the workplace, Employment Drug Testing | 3 Comments »

24/11/2010 by admin.

www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk  now offers UK purchasers the widest range of professional branded drug tests and alcohol screens. Professional drug tests are certified by the European regulator under IVDD CE regulations and must meet the exacting standards for selectivity, sensitivity and accuracy required by professional testing agencies. Each batch is individually tested and certified before release.

Just as critical to the performance of the professional drug test is the importation and storage of the biotech drug testing product, using temperature regulated freight and warehousing to ensure against thermal degeneration is essential. www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk as a trading devision of access diagnostic tests uk ltd, ensure all these exacting standards are met for its drug testings products, and all other biotech diagnostic ranges.

Our leading brands include the InstAlert range of urine and saliva drug testing kits including the E-Z cup drug test systems and multi-panel tests from 10 drug down to 3 drug test combinations, single drug tests are also available in a range of device drug tests and strip dip drug test options. Also available is the Eco cup drug testing products in 6 drug or 10 drug option, including an adulteration test (10drug eco)

www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk also offers the largest range of saliva drug tests (oral fluid drug tests) of any UK drug testing supplier with ranges from Oraline, First Sign, Instant View, InstAlert and also single panels saliva drug tests for cannabis and cocaine.

All these professional drug test products are designed to give accurate instant results in under 10 minutes. A full range of detection times are shown for the professional drug tests on the web site www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk home page, under the detection link

www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk and Access Diagnostic Tests UK Ltd supply directly to NHS purchasing departments accross the UK. Professional drug testing packs are also supplied directly to UK drug and Alcohol services, both in the public and private sector, Universities, research projects and clinical trials, Prison and Police projects and employment and business drug and alcohol screening services.

www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk guarantees to match of better your existing supplier or current  ”best offer” for professional drug testing kits on a like for like basis, and alsways supply supperior quality product from trusted and proven manufacturers that we know will not let you down. All our products are backed with full UK customer product support for technical and data queries. Initial enquiries regarding professional drug testing kits should be made by phone on 01623 883 830 or by e-mail using trade@adtuk.co.uk

Posted in Urine drug test, Drug test cup, Discount drug tests, Drug Test Detection Periods, Drug and alcohol news, Drug Testing Companies, Drug screening, pre-employment Drug Testing, Employment Drug Testing, Drug & Alcohol Addiction, Drug testing at work, Police, NHS, Drug Detection Times | 1 Comment »

20/10/2010 by admin.

More and more companies in the UK are now routinely undertaking regular drug and alcohol testing programs. Leading the way are safety critical employers, where drug screening is an integral element of health and safety proceedure. UK Employment agencies are increasingly being requested to provide drug and alcohol tests as part of a routine pre-employment screen, and as an ongoing certification requirement for contract or agency staff, being deployed in safety critical employment environments.

Drug testing in the workplace need be no more taxing for employers than a routine urine dip health test for kidney disease or diabetes, and is available from under £4.00 per test.

Urine drug screening products offer the most cost effective and best route for effective detection of drug use in the preceeding 72hrs.

Many testing agencies would prefer to test using a saliva drug test kit, until they understand the much shorter period of detection achievable with instant on site saliva drug tests (12-24hrs in most drug group) Of course this can be an advantage where agencies are concerned only with detecting recent or active drugs, currently still in the employee and still likely to be psychoactive and affecting performance.

Urine drug tests will detect the use of drugs in the last 3 to 5 days, so they will detect recreational Cannabis, Ecstacy and Amphetamine use (club drugs) used on a Friday and Saturday, in employee drug tests on Monday or Tuesday.

A full list of product specific drug detection times is available from www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk drug detection times data here

Packs specifically taylored to employers needs for drugs and alcohol testing are available from www.valuebreathalysers.co.uk or  here

Posted in Employee drug testing, drug testing work, Drug testing in the workplace, Drug testing at work | 1 Comment »

08/06/2010 by admin.

E-Z drug test cups have been available for many years and have proved popular with both the drug treatment agencies and also with business users who wish to perform urine drug testing in the workplace.

The integrated urine collection and storage cup with built in drug test panel offers easy sample collection, and spill free storage and handling.

The urine drug test panel gives immediate on-site results to NIDA cut off levels for up to 10 drug groups.

Negative urine samples can be disgarded, while any positive urine samples can be retained, sealed with tamper proof seals (provided in all professional 25 test packs) and sent for laboratory comfirmation.

The E-Z urine drug test cup is available in a range of urine drug test combination from 5 to 10 drug groups depending on the requirments of the end user from www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk

The EZ collection cup system offers an ideal urine drug test system where facilities for sample collection and processing may be limited. The Instalert professional standard urine drug test membrane supplied as standard offers high accuracy and detection rates to CE EU IVDD standards, and is considered one of the best near patient urine drug screening products available.

Posted in Urine drug test, Drug screen, urine drug test kits, urine test drugs, urine drug testing kit, EZ drug test, Integrated drug test, Drug testing in the workplace, Drug testing in construction industry, Drug screening, 10 panel drug test, Drug test cup, Drug testing at work | 1 Comment »

12/04/2010 by admin.

Undertaking drug testing for the first time can be a daunting task, but the basic procedure is very simple.

An initial urine sample is collected and brought to room temperature (usually 20 minutes) The sample is then tested using a standard panel combination drug test. The cut off levels for drug test panels is internationally agreed and traditionally work to SAMHSA and NIDA levels for urine analysis.

Professionally produced and batch certified drug testing urine kits are between 97 and 99% accurate when compared in studies to laboratory drug screening using GC/MS methods. This level of accuracy is considered by all bodies as high enough to be acceptable for all negative onsite drug test results.

In simple terms, if the instant drug test result is all normal, and the sample collection and procedure are all acceptable no further action need be taken.

Confirming all positive results is essential in a workplace situation. No further action should be taken before laboratory GC/MS confirmation of a positive result is obtained.

Where employment drug testing is part of a occupational risk assessment for a high risk occupation, the employee should not be allowed to perform this task pending the confirmation result, but no disciplinary or penalty action must be taken by the employer before absolute confirmation is obtained.

Standard drug test panel combinations for the UK and EU employment drug testing tend to be THC, COC, AMP, MET, MOP

THC = Cannabis 50ng

COC = Cocaine 300ng

AMP= Amphetamine 1000ng

MOP = Opiates 300ng

MET = Methamphetamine 1000ng

Click here for more info on drug testing kits

Posted in Drug testing in the workplace, Drug Testing faq's, Drug screening, Drug screen, Urine drug test, Drug Test, Drug Test FAQ, Drug testing in football, Employment Drug Testing, Drug Detection Times, Workplace drug testing, Drug testing at work, Drug testing in construction industry, Drug Testing | 1 Comment »

12/02/2010 by admin.

A single drug test kit, but 10 individual results, screening for 10 drug groups on a single urine sample. The Instalert 10 panel drug test card is the ultimate in drug screening, offering professional quality performance and low unit cost.

The 10 panel drug test is available in 2 test proceedural options, as a straight 10 panel dip drug test card for urine and also integrated into the best selling E-Z cup drug test collection, sampling and storage system.

For anyone looking for the widest possible drug screen, this is the one to choose. Cartons of 25 10 panel drug tests are now available from £125.00 and the E-Z 10 panel drug test option, again in cartons of 25 drug tests from £149.00 Both 10 panel drug tests are normally stock items available for next working day delivery.

See her for further information on drug testing & the Instalert 10 panel drug test card

Posted in Integrated drug test, EZ drug test, Drug screen, Drug test cup, 10 panel drug test, Drug testing at work, Drug testing in the workplace, Drug screening, Drug Testing | 1 Comment »

10/02/2010 by admin.

The growth of employment or workplace drug screening continues, despite the slowdown in recruitment of 2009. A larger workforce seeking employment and more applicants per vacancy has given prospective employers greater power to choose and more reason to distinguish between candidates. Pre-employment health screening including a drug test is now more widely used than ever, with employers looking to reduce their healthcare vunerability and costs.

The main growth in drug screening has been amongst employment agencies, many of whom report an increase willingness in clients to request both a drug and alcohol screening element of routine pre-employment testing. Employment agencies are ideally placed to perform these drug tests, as they are seen as independent of the recruiting company and have the experience and facilities to undertake drug screening as part of the routine health care screening program. There size also enables cost effective purchasing of bulk on-site drug testing products direct from manufactuers. The most widely used testing screen for on-site instant drug testing by agencies is the E-Z 6 panel drug test cup (EZ 6 panel drug test available here) which reports urine results for Cannabis, Cocaine, Amphetamine, Methamphetamine, Benzodiazepines and Opiates (Heroin) This covers most of the common recreational dependent drug groups of interest to employers, and offers a convenient collection and handling system, with no urine spillage for around £5.00 per complete drug test kit.

Workplace drug testing is forcast to grow in 2010 as the UK employment conditions improve and employers further extend the use of drug screening to improve the quality and productivity of their workforce.

A manager from a medium size logistics company recently advised us, “previously drug tests have only been performed when a problem has surfaced and we suspected individuals, after testing for drugs we realised the motivational benefits of performing low level random drug screening, and how this worked to prevent problems arising. Our guys are not going to risk loosing their jobs, now they know we drug test.”

Posted in pre-employment Drug Testing, Drug screening, Drug testing in the workplace, Drug testing at work, Employment Drug Testing, Workplace drug testing, Drug Testing | 1 Comment »

15/12/2009 by admin.

Drug testing in the UK workplace is becoming increasingly common. Once reserved to safety critical jobs such as line side railway and construction industry tasks, drug testing in the workplace is now almost routine in many industries and pre-employment medical examinations.

The drug testing technologies are now so simple that drug screening can be added to a medical examination where urine kidney, liver and diabetes test are performed with little or no extra work or cost. The drug screening proceedure is a simple urine dip test, with negative or positive indicators for a range of 5 or up to 10 drug groups. The accuracy of instant drug testing is such that these urine dip tests are adequate to exclude all negative results with no further action. Positive instant drug test results must be confirmed with the urine sample being sent for laboratory GC/MS analysis confirmation.

Drug testing in the uk workplace positive rates vary, depending on the demographic being tested. Testers should prepare for 3-8% positive rates depending on the range of the drug screen (the common combination used starts with Cannabis, Cocaine, Amphetamine, Opiates & Methamphetamine) and the demographic.

Urine drug testing remains the bench mark mode of testing as for most workplace drug testing it gives the best overall cost/benefit/detection period ratio.

Agencies requiring the diagnostic drug testing kits should look for professional packaged branded products with full IVDD pro CE certification such as the ACON and InstAlert ranges from Innovacon, available from Access Diagnostic Tests UK Ltd via www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk 

UKDrugTesting also offer a full range of breathalysers, both single use and digital to enable workplace screening for alcohol.

Posted in Drug testing in the workplace, Drug testing at work, Drug Testing | 1 Comment »

08/12/2009 by admin.

Drug testing at work is now routine for thousands of safety critical workers. Employment contracts have evolved to enable employers to routinely screen for drugs pre-employment candidates, after workplace accidents and incidents, and on a random basis.

Drug testing at work has become more commonplace as rates of social drug and alcohol use have increased. Increasing social drug use is recognised to impact negatively on workplace productivity and safety. Increasing awareness of employers duty of care withing the workplace with the need to ensure a safe working environment at all times justifies indentifying employers attending the workplace under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

Where the safety argument works for train drivers and fork lift truck operative, the productivity argument increasingly works for all other employees and increasingly managers at all levels.

Click here for more information on drug testing at work

Posted in Drug testing at work, Workplace drug testing | 1 Comment »

04/06/2009 by admin.

Staff could feel alienated by drug tests.

Managers could end up ‘alienating’ staff and even breaching their human rights by insisting on drug tests within the workplace.

That is according to the drugs charity Release, which has reported a four-fold increase in the number of calls it receives relating to testing on employees.

That is according to the drugs charity Release, which has reported a four-fold increase in the number of calls it receives relating to testing on employees.

Notably, it has revealed that many of those organisations taking such measures are those working in sectors where testing for drugs has rarely been an issue, such as the finance and clerical sectors, with the charity explaining that this upturn could be down to the fact that many managers are looking to get rid of workers without having to make redundancy payouts.

Indeed, many of the employees getting in touch with the charity reported that their employers had announced planned voluntary redundancies just prior to giving staff workplace medicals, which often included drugs tests.

Advising employers on the importance of good management practice in this area, executive director of Release Sebastian Saville said: “This is a worrying practice that may well breach employees’ human rights and their rights to privacy.

“Employers risk alienating staff by forcing them into intrusive tests and should be supporting any staff member who might be experiencing drug problems, not using it as an excuse to make cheap redundancies.”

Testing for illicit substances is already commonplace in organisations where workers are required to operate machinery or undertake driving tasks.

Information taken from learndirect website

Click here to read at Learndirect

Find out more about drug testing here

Posted in Drug testing at work, Workplace drug testing | 1 Comment »