Whether it’s illicit drugs or misuse of prescribed drugs, drugs are a significant issue in all parts of society and the workplace is certainly no different. In fact, the Australian Drug Foundation estimates the use of drugs and alcohol is costing Australian workplaces $5.2 billion a year, due to lost productivity and employee absenteeism.
Implementing a rigorous workplace drug testing program, as part of a wider occupational health and safety program, is a vital tool in reducing the risks to workplaces of drugs. As well as improving safety and safeguarding your business, workplace drug testing can help you improve absenteeism and productivity, and reduce crime and violence in your workplace.
Integrity Sampling’s accredited technicians conduct workplace drug testing for clients as required, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. Our people are experts in drug testing processes and use the most advanced testing devices and equipment available. This ensures testing accuracy of greater than 99%. Our testing programs are effective, fast and unobtrusive.
Saliva drug testing
If you suspect that an employee may be under the influence of drugs, you want to know now, not days later when the danger to the employee and others has passed.
Integrity Sampling is one of the few Australian companies to offer saliva drug testing for workplaces. Saliva drug testing (or oral fluid drug testing) has several advantages over traditional urine testing methods.
What are the advantages of saliva drug testing?
- Quick Results: Drug testing using saliva is quick, with results available in as little as five minutes. This reduces downtime and allows more people to be tested. Compare this with laboratory based urine testing, where results can take days rather than minutes.
- Non-Intrusive and Convenient: Workplace saliva drug testing is non-intrusive and can be done virtually anywhere. Urine testing needs restroom facilities and, for some people, can make them feel uncomfortable.
- Accurate and Reliable: Testing using saliva is accurate. In fact, using both Dräger drug testing units Integrity Sampling uses deliver accuracy rates exceeding 99%.
- Approved Method: Saliva drug testing has been approved as a preferred method over urine drug testing by Fair Work Australia.
- Enhanced Accuracy: The detection period for urine is greater than it is for saliva. This potentially means, for example, a person who took a drug 1 or 2 days before work and can perform their job safely could return a positive result using urine drug testing. This is why saliva drug testing is considered a more accurate way of determining if someone is fit to be at work.
What saliva drug testing equipment does Integrity Sampling use?
Integrity Sampling is an exclusive Dräger Partner. We use two Dräger products for our workplace drug testing:
- The Drug Test 5000 is similar to the units being used by law enforcement agencies in Australia and globally. It was independently verified by the NATA accredited Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and found to be compliant with the new standard AS/NZS 4760:2019. This new Australian/New Zealand Standard 4760 was released in March 2019, making the Dräger DrugTest 5000 one of the first products to have been verified.
- The Drug Check 3000 is a single-use test kit that can be used to find out within minutes if a person recently consumed certain drugs. It's compact size is one of its key advantages. It does not require electricity and can therefore be used anywhere for workplace drug testing.
Does Integrity Sampling conduct urine drug testing?
While we believe saliva drug testing is the best method for testing for drugs, we understand that there are businesses that prefer urine testing, so we can undertake urine testing at your facility if you prefer.
How is workplace drug testing conducted?
Using the Drager Drug Test 5000, workplace drug testing is quick and easy. Here is a summary of how workplace drug testing is conducted:
- To analyse saliva for drug testing, a sample must first be taken.
- The person being tested uses a small collection device and places it in their mouth and rubs it under their tongue and around their gums. This collection process takes around 30 seconds to a minute.
- The collection device is then placed in an analysing unit and the sample tested for specific drugs. This includes cannabis, methamphetamines, cocaine and opiates.
- The results are displayed by the unit.
The process is just as quick and easy with the Drug Check 3000. Testing is performed in simple steps:
- The person being tested rubs the collection device in their mouth, under their tongue and around their cheeks.
- The collection device is inserted into the test kit.
- The test kit is shaken.
- A security tab is removed and the sampler is pushed down fully into the test kit.
- Results are obtained within around 2 - 3 minutes.
What if you test positive during workplace drug testing?
What happens if your workplace drug testing result is positive?
- While workplace drug testing is accurate – both units we use for workplace drug testing have an accuracy greater than 99 per cent – it’s not 100 per cent accurate. False positives do occur occasionally. Therefore, confirmation testing is carried out.
- In the workplace, this involves the collection of another saliva sample.
- This sample is then sent to an independent NATA Accredited laboratory for more sensitive and accurate laboratory analysis.
- In the lab, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis is carried out to identify any substances in the saliva sample. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry is the gold standard for testing. It can identify what family of drugs may be in the sample and what the drug is.
- If the lab result is positive, you have failed workplace drug testing and will face the consequences set out by your workplace.
What consequences will you face for failing workplace drug testing?
If you fail workplace drug testing, will you lose your job?
Unlike drug testing on our roads, consequences for failing a workplace drug test are less defined. That’s because it will depend on your employer’s drug and alcohol policy.
If you work in a high risk role (e.g. pilot, truck driver, train operator) your workplace may have a zero tolerance policy. If this is the case and you fail a drug test, then it’s likely you will lose your job.
In most workplaces, however, dismissal for a first offence is unlikely. You may receive a caution, receive extra education, or get support.
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Can you refuse workplace drug testing?
Yes, you can, but this doesn’t mean you should.
While the consequences for refusing workplace drug testing will depend on your employer’s drug and alcohol policy, the consequences can be severe. In general, you are better taking the test and failing than refusing to take the test.
How long do drugs stay in your system?
How long does it take for drugs to be processed by your body?
- Drugs affect people differently, so there’s no definitive answer. While one person could potentially be safe to drive and work 8 to 10 hours after smoking cannabis, for another person it will be longer.
- The level of drugs in a person’s system will depend on a range of individual factors such as sex, age, tolerance, general health, metabolism and mood.
- The strength and quantity of drugs taken, how they were administered and the mix of drugs also plays an important role.
- Even a small amount of cannabis can be detected several hours later in a drug test.
- Methamphetamine can be detected for up to 24 hours and even longer after they were taken.
- Ecstasy can be detected for 24 hours after use and even longer in some circumstances.
- It’s important to remember that like alcohol, drug users can be affected by after-effects long after they’ve taken their last drug. These effects can include tiredness, anxiety, irritability and general wellbeing, which can all affect how safe they are to drive and work.
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Choose workplace drug testing for a safer tomorrow
When it comes to workplace safety and productivity, implementing a rigorous drug testing program is an investment that yields significant returns. At Integrity Sampling, we understand the importance of safeguarding your workplace and maintaining compliance with industry standards.
Integrity Sampling can help
50,000+
Number of drug, alcohol and COVID tests conducted by Integrity Sampling each year
40+
Integrity Sampling locations throughout Australia
Drug and alcohol testing methodology
Pre-employment drug and alcohol testing
Testing is conducted before employment or prior to a promotion.
Cause drug and alcohol testing
Cause testing is used when an employee’s fitness for work is questioned.
Incident drug and alcohol testing
Testing is undertaken following an incident, accident or near miss.
Random drug and alcohol testing
Random drug and alcohol testing is implemented on any given day or time.
Frequently asked questions about workplace drug testing
There are many substances that can be detected during saliva drug testing. The main ones are amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamines, opiates and oxycodone.
How often a workplace should conduct drug and alcohol testing depends on the industry, risk level, and company policy. High-risk sectors like construction, transport, and mining may require regular random testing to maintain safety and compliance. Other businesses might not conduct random testing and test for pre-employment, post-incident, and under suspicion. Regular reviews of your testing frequency—guided by risk assessments and expert advice—help ensure your program remains effective, fair, and aligned with legal and safety obligations.
Sample tampering is prevented during workplace drug and alcohol testing through strict protocols, including supervised collection, secure containers, and tamper-evident seals. Our consultants follow standardised procedures and document each step to ensure the sample’s integrity. These measures help ensure accurate, reliable results and protect the fairness of the testing process.
Chain of custody is a critical process in workplace drug and alcohol testing that ensures the integrity of each sample from collection to results. It involves documented handling and transfer of samples at every stage, including lab testing and result reporting. This strict procedure helps prevent tampering, misidentification, contamination, and confidentiality. It also ensures that test results are legally defensible. Maintaining an unbroken chain of custody protects both employers and employees by supporting fair, transparent, and accurate testing outcomes.
While you can ask employers to undertake testing, you can’t force them. This is why it’s important to include in your drug and alcohol policy what happens when someone refuses a test. Generally, a refusal is considered a breach of policy and the consequences can be the same – and in some cases harsher – as if the person took the test and failed. See this post for further details.
Implementing drug and alcohol testing for the first time can be daunting and there are a lot of questions to be answered. For example, will you use saliva or urine samples, what will be the consequences for positive results and who will conduct the testing? For more guidance on how to implement drug and alcohol testing in your workplace, please see our resource page on the subject.
The process for workplace drug and alcohol testing is very quick and only takes a minute or two for each test. For workplace drug testing using saliva samples it’s slightly slower, but still quick and easy. Results are generally obtained in around five minutes.
While testing results are known straight away, it’s important not to jump to conclusions. The equipment used by Integrity Sampling is extremely accurate, however, confirmation testing must be completed. You should consider results ‘non-negative’ until this testing is done. In the case of drug tests, this involves the collection of further samples that are sent to an independent laboratory for more sensitive and accurate analysis.
If an employee has recorded a non-negative workplace testing result, laboratory confirmation analysis is required. It generally takes around two working days for results to be obtained.
There are several prescribed medications – and even over the counter drugs – that can be detected during testing. These are all medications that can potentially affect a person’s ability to work safety. Medications include opioids (e.g. codeine, morphine, fentanyl and oxycodone), medicinal cannabis, benzodiazepines, anti-anxiety medications, antihistamines, epilepsy medications, and dexamphetamine ADHD medication. See this post for more details.
Integrity Sampling uses Dräger drug and alcohol testing equipment for all its workplace testing. This equipment is extremely precise and reliable. In the case of our drug testing equipment, it’s been independently evaluated to be greater than 99% accurate. For alcohol testing, the breathalysers we use have been proven worldwide over millions of tests. It’s also important to note that any non-negative result must be confirmed, in the case of drug tests by independent laboratory analysis. See this post for more details.