Fitness for Duty through Behaviour Change ▼

We believe that the objective of conducting workplace drug & alcohol testing is to change behaviour, rather than a "witch hunt" for positive results.

To achieve this behavioural change (and obvious improvement in workplace safety) there are three fundamental aspects to an effective program; Policy Development, Staff Education and Testing.

Our service extends much further than simply a testing agency. We can provide Self Testing Equipment designed to encourage responsible self-management and secure result reporting/ statistical analysis that is unrivalled in this industry.

Our reporting services include secure summary statistical reporting (which can be automated for every testing visit), secure record storage (for up to 9 years), secure PDF result notification and periodical statistical reporting to assist you in monitoring the success of your program.

Policy Development Phase ▼

A Fitness for Duty Policy serves many purposes and is vitally important if you intend to conduct testing in your organisation. A Drug & Alcohol Policy should;

• serve to explain the testing procedures (including any ramifications to staff)

• act as a guide for supervisors and should clearly explain all aspects of the testing process in clear and unambiguous detail

• be developed in consultation with Staff

• be operationally, legally and scientifically feasible.

These aspects can be extremely tough to achieve without expert direction.

Preparing a policy in this field from the “ground up” can be an onerous task. We frequently review existing policies and our experience is that many of these contain simple errors and mistakes, made by organisations both large and small . A legal challenge might focus heavily upon the written policies and procedures adopted; accordingly this aspect should be given considerable attention.

Some common mistakes  include:

• incorrect cut-off levels - for example 50 ng/mL (or mg/L) is NOT the confirmatory cut-off level for Cannabis, this is the screening level. We estimate that at least 30% of Policies in Australia reference incorrect cut-off levels.

• incongruent terminology for example references to "zero tolerance", "impairment" or "under the influence" are likely to seriously compromise a program facing a legal challenge.

• implementing an "instant dismissal" approach. Industrial Commissions tend to be intolerant of Policies that do not include opportunities for rehabilitation (allowing at least 3 confirmed positive results prior to dismissal).

• failing to accommodate legitimate pharmaceuticals - a small number of pharmaceuticals can produce positive results. Organisations that fail to accommodate individuals taking legitimate pharmaceuticals as prescribed would most likely be deemed to have applied harsh, unfair and unjust treatment.

We can assist your organisation in developing a “Drug and Alcohol Policy” designed to be as accurate and detailed as possible, whilst achieving the underlying objective of changing people’s behaviour in the interests of workplace safety.

An effective policy should include procedures for the method of testing to be used,  training and education for employees, communication of results and appropriate actions (including employee assistance) in the event that an employee is found positive for presence of drugs and alcohol and medications.

Education - Communication Phase ▼

Many Industrial Relations cases relating to drug & alcohol testing appear to focus on the communication of the policy and program to staff normally. The method of staff communication that we promote focuses on the testing methods used, privacy protection measures and addresses many of the myths of Drug & Alcohol testing.

We can provide Instructors, educational aids (digital projectors etc where required), PowerPoint presentations and Questionnaires to assist in this process.

We have a variety of presentation templates that can be delivered to staff as part of initial program awareness.
 

Testing Phase ▼

Following the introduction of the program it is important that all testing follows the procedure stated in the Policy. We are able to provide consistent and professional testing by trained personnel for your program on a Nation Wide Basis. This testing can include the immediate reporting of screening results to assist in establishing employee fitness for work. The Australian Standard: AS/NZS 4308:2001, contains specifications for recommended collection and laboratory testing procedures and we can manage the reporting of these results for our clientele.

We also provide all testing equipment and consumables required to conduct our works.

Some features of a good testing program includes:

• Accurate - The process should not falsely accuse innocent people or return negative results for staff who should actually return positive results. For this reason screening results must not be interpreted as a final result - A laboratory result is the most important result in the testing process.

• Tried and tested – it is important that the chosen testing method is an accepted and reliable method of testing. To this end the testing process needs to be sound and should be capable of being supported by experts in the field.

• Operationally Efficient – the testing program must be fast (in order to ensure that staff can complete the testing program quickly).

• Private - the testing program should have clear systems and procedures in place designed to protect individual privacy.

Our Testing Service is designed to meet  all of the above requirements.

Self-Testing Equipment ▼

We assist Customers to encourage their staff to self-manage drug and alcohol usage through the provision of self-testing equipment (individually wrapped self-testing kits).

To this end we have a variety of simple test kits that can be provided to staff in order that they can test themselves in the event that they are concerned about their capacity to pass a workplace test. These facilities can be evaluated on a number of levels:

• The self testing kits help build awareness in Employees

• Staff can learn to responsibly self-manage any drug or alcohol usage in a manner which should not compromise workplace safety.

• The testing kits can be accessed confidentially through having a nominated employee representative tasked with obtaining the kits from a central store.

• The kits are relatively inexpensive and are vastly more cost effective than managing accidents or breakages resulting from errant behaviour by intoxicated (or "at risk") staff.

Reporting and Record Services ▼