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 »

24/06/2011 by admin.

New in stock last month is the Oral Cube 11 drug + alcohol saliva drug test

Offer comprehensive rapid drug screening (including alcohol) of human saliva in one drug testing kit.

Ideal 1st line screening tool for drug & alcohol testing in the workplace

Tests saliva quickly & easily for the following drugs :

Alcohol
Amphetamines / Speed (AMP)
Barbiturates (BAR)
Benzodiazepines / Tranquilisers (BZO)
Buprenorphine (BUP)
Cannabis / Marijuana (THC)
Cocaine / Crack (COC)
Methamphetamines (MET)
Methodone (MTD)
Opiates / (Codeine, Morphine) Heroin (OPI)
Oxycotin (OXY)
Phencyclidine (PCP)

Click here for more info on Saliva Drug Testing Kits

Click here for information on saliva drug test detection times

Posted in Saliva alcohol test, Oral cube drug testing, Oral cube, Drug testing in the workplace, Oral Drug Testing, Workplace drug testing, Oral Drug Test, Saliva Drug Test, Saliva Drug Tests | 1 Comment »

07/02/2011 by admin.

www.ukdrugtesting.co.uk offers the widest choice of saliva drug screening tests in the UK.

New to the drug testing market is the Firstsign 6 panel drug test available in professional 25 saliva drug test packs from ukdrugtesting.co.uk 

First sign is unique in testing directly for parent THC (not just metabolites) and offers error free chain of custody sample collection and results in under 10 minutes for the 6 drug groups screened for.

25 First Sign saliva drug testing kits per carton.

 Individually foil wrapped

Key features of the First Sign oral drug test kit:

• Tests for the parent THC
• Error free - collection test and swab in 1 device.
• Less invasive than urine drug testing
• Test anywhere - anytime
• From collection to result in less than 5 minutes
• Easy, fast and accurate 1-step oral drug test
• Screens for the Delta 9 (?9) THC component, not the metabolite

Screens saliva for :
Cannabis
Cocaine
Opiates
Amphetamine
Methadone
Benzodiazepine

Click here for more info on the First Sign oral drug testing kit

25 First Sign saliva drug testing kits per carton. Individually foil wrapped.

Posted in Drug Testing Kits, First Sign Oral drug test, Oral Drug Testing, Saliva Drug Test, Workplace drug testing, Oral Drug Test, Saliva Drug Tests | 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 »

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 »

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 »

05/05/2009 by admin.

Just read this article in Construction News

Rok’s employees and supply chain will face drug and alcohol tests from this autumn.

The group – which turned over more than £1 billion last year and has 60 offices across the UK – told Construction News it plans to roll out a new drug and alcohol policy which will see all of its workers face an initial round of testing, followed by sustained random checks.

Rok, which in March announced it had a secured future pipeline of work some £2.7 billion, said it wanted to weed out drug and alcohol abusers in a bid to boost site safety across the company.

Head of health and safety Shaun Davis said while the policy had not yet been finalised, it was expected to include pre-employment, random and post-incident testing. Tests could also be carried out if suspicions were raised over any specific individuals.

Click here to read the full article online at Construction News

Click here for more on info and drug and alcohol testing

Posted in Drug testing in construction industry, Drug testing at work, Workplace drug testing, Drug Testing News, Drug Testing | 1 Comment »