Work place drug testing

Recently we completed our certificate in drug testing through ESR (ESR’s collecting agents are trained to follow strict procedures to comply with the requirements of the Australian/New Zealand Standard, AS/NZS 4308:2001 "Procedures for the collection, detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in urine ). This means we are qualified to complete pre screening and post accident drug testing on our staff. The course was intensive, some of the things we learned were real eye openers such as:

- Eating Meal Mates prior to a drug test can produce a false positive!

- Drug use can attribute to 66% higher rate of absenteeism

ESR educated us on the different sampling options currently available. One option is onsite testing where results are given on the spot. Although this is possible the process is not as thorough and can lead to false positives where someone who has taken codeine based panadol or even had a bun with poppy seeds on it will return a false positive result! The most efficient method to drug test someone is to send samples taken by certified testers directly to ESR. Results are in within 24 hours, but will clear up if someone has taken drugs or has just eaten a tasty baked snack.

If you have questions around the process of drug testing please feel free to email us or give us a call.