- Pre-employment – many employers require a successful medical test for new employees and this could include a drugs test. According to the Home Office, this is possibly the easiest form of testing to use, as all applicants are aware from an early stage about the existence of drug testing and are free to withdraw their application if they are unhappy with this.
- Random – according to the CIPD, this is not widely used with only about 10% of employers using this approach.(7) It involves testing all or part of the workforce in a random fashion so as to deter drug use.
- Routine – carried out a specified times; some employers set out a number of randomly-selected employees to be tested each week.
- ‘With Cause’ – this is the most common instance of testing with more than a fifth of employers using this approach.(8) It involves testing an individual after an accident, incident or change of behaviour or performance in the workplace. This must be stated in a workplace policy.
- Part of a rehabilitation programme – the employer may require regular tests of an employee recovering or participating in an Employee Assistance Programme to make sure that they are not still using illicit substances.
There are certain advantages and disadvantages to testing for drugs and alcohol in the workplace, some of which are listed here:
| Advantages |
Disadvantages |
| Can serve as a deterrent against substance misuse in the workplace |
Can only identify substances taken a short while previously as substances leave the body |
| Can help to meet obligations under Health and Safety legislation |
Can be inaccurate, varying in product quality and subject to adulteration |
| Can more easily help identify and resolve employee substance misuse problems in the workplace |
Does not differentiate between drug misuse and medicinal drug use (for example codeine is used in certain over-the-counter medicines) |
| Can form a part of increasing education and awareness of employees |
Can involve issues about reliability and interpretation |
| Can be of critical importance in detecting drug misuse in safety-critical roles, where the safety of employee and others is in question |
Does not indicate if use is chronic, intermittent or a one-off |
| Can safeguard employers from legal action |
Does not indicate if an employee's performance in the workplace has been affected or will be affected |
| May add to an organisations' reputation of standing against drug misuse |
Can lead to a lack of trust between employer and employee |
| Can underline an organisations's drug policy more forcefully |
Could be construed as an infringement on someone's personal privacy |
As indicated above, drugs and alcohol are not always detectable on the given day of testing, even if an employee does use them regularly. The opposite problem applies as well; ‘one-off’ usage may be detected and misconstrued as habit. A rough guide for how long drugs stay in the body is provided by DrugScope:(9)
| Alcohol |
12 to 24 hours |
| Amphetamine |
2 to 4 days |
| Cannabis |
2 to 7 days (casual use)
Up to 30 days (heavy use) |
| Cocaine |
12 hours to 3 days |
| Ecstasy |
2 to 4 days |
| Heroin |
1 to 2 days |
| LSD |
2 to 3 days |
| Methadone |
2 days |
Certain organisations have particular views regarding drug testing in the workplace. The TUC states that the productivity, safety and profitability of an organisation are not improved by drug tests in the workplace and ‘believes that testing is only appropriate for staff in safety-critical posts and should be part of a comprehensive safety strategy that includes support for staff who test positive.’(10) Other organisations regard testing as essential in fulfilling their health and safety obligations.
Before embarking on any programme of testing, there are certain issues that organisations must consider. The following have been provided by the Home Office advisory group, FRANK:
- The objectives of testing
- The type of testing
- Which drugs should be tested for
- The circumstances in which you will test
- Who will collect samples
- The arrangements to ensure sample security
- How much you are prepared to spend on a testing regime
- What action you will take if a test result is positive
- Confidentiality and legal issues
- The effect of testing on employees
- The effect on your business in terms of potentially losing a valuable staff member where the quality of their work is not impaired
- The effect on industrial relations: how this kind of ‘surveillance’ will be received
- The social implications and consequences of dismissal for the employees.(11)
If an organisation decides to carry out workplace drugs testing, it must be integrated effectively into the substance misuse policy and wider procedures. Certain safeguards must be taken; for example, a ‘chain of custody’ detailing the progress of a specimen from collection to the reporting of results. Furthermore, these results should be interpreted by a medical review officer before further action is taken.
The decision on testing is down to the individual organisation and there is no universal accord on whether it should be used. What is clear though, is that if you use it or not, a robust drug and alcohol policy is absolutely essential.
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