While COVID-19 rapid testing is here and here to stay in the short to medium term, and provides a valuable tool in the battle against COVID, according to an article on the Human Resources Director website, it does create challenges for workplaces.
Dominic Fleeton, from workplace legal specialists Kingston Reid, says COVID-19 rapid testing technology can help keep workplaces safe. However, it’s important for employers to ask themselves some important questions before implementing testing.
“To date, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing has primarily been a reactive policy,” he said. “But the approval of rapid antigen testing in Australia raises a host of questions that employers will need to work through,” Dominic says in the article.
“After nearly two years of COVID, employers know they cannot eliminate the risk of COVID transmission in their workplace, nor does the law require them to do so,” he said. “But they must mitigate the risk of transmission so far as reasonably practicable. Rapid testing will almost certainly be part of this, so it will be imperative for employers to clearly understand their legal rights and responsibilities before implementing any testing regime.”
COVID-19 rapid testing questions for workplaces
The Human Resources Director workplace COVID-19 rapid testing article provides a list of questions that workplaces may need to answer. These include (as quoted from the article):
- Whether or not rapid testing can be required of employees
- Whether refusal to take a test could be valid grounds for not allowing on-site access to an employee or for even dismissal
- When and where testing should be done
- How home test results can be verified
- What measures need to be implemented to ensure that employers don’t violate privacy obligations while sourcing testing information
- How employers can remain informed of updates from the TGA and regulators with regard to rapid testing
- What circumstances are acceptable for work-related travel
- How testing can be incorporated into the budget
Put Integrity into your workplace rapid testing
These types of questions are not new to Integrity Sampling, because they are very similar to questions workplaces need to answer before they begin drug or alcohol testing. The important thing is to have a policy in place that provides details on your COVID-19 rapid testing and answers all the important questions that can crop up.
The other important thing to note is that you don’t need to tackle rapid testing by yourself. Integrity Sampling can help.
There are two ways that Integrity Sampling can help workplaces looking to implement workplace COVID-19 rapid testing.
- Firstly, Integrity Sampling can conduct testing for you, using our TGA approved testing technology. It doesn’t require spitting or uncomfortable nasal or throat swabs, it simply requires a sponge-like pen to be placed inside a person’s mouth. Sampling and analysis is quick, with around 2-minutes and 15-minutes required respectively.
- Integrity Sampling can also supply TGA approved testing kits for your workplace, so that you can carry out your own testing. It’s the same technology that we use for our testing and therefore has the same benefits (saliva sample and no nasal/throat swabs, simple, quick). A 2-pack and 5-pack kit is available. If you need bulk test kits, we also sell COVID-19 rapid testing kits online for $399 for 30 individual tests, which includes GST and shipping.
Either way, Integrity Sampling has your covered. Call us on 1300 725 482 to find out how you can benefit from rapid testing in your workplace.
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COVID-19 rapid testing is a valuable tool in our ongoing battle against COVID, but what does it mean for workplaces?
