workplace drug testing | Integrity Sampling

Drug testing

Workers at a Vulcan Steel plant have given saliva drug testing its stamp of approval. If you manage a workplace, you should too.

Drug testing methods not all created equal

January 27, 2021January 27, 2021MichaelLeave a comment

What does it matter which drug testing method your workplace chooses to use? After all, if you haven’t taken drugs recently, it doesn’t matter which method they use, does it? Actually, the drug testing method can make a difference, as the Manufacturing and Construction Workers Union at Vulcan Steel in New Zealand well know. Firstly,...

Drug testing

What would you do if one of your key employees fails workplace drug testing? Screaming at them probably isn’t the answer! Credit Ilmicrofono Oggiono https://www.flickr.com/photos/115089924@N02/31049242487/

Workplace drug testing dilemma

January 4, 2021January 4, 2021MichaelLeave a comment

If the star of your favourite sporting team got into trouble with the law, would you stand by him or ship him off to another team at the first opportunity? Would it make a difference if it wasn’t one of your stars, and it was a player who generally didn’t play in the senior side?...

Drug testing

Can you say no to workplace drug testing?

October 14, 2019October 14, 2019MichaelLeave a comment

You’re on a ‘bender’ on the weekend, having a great time with mates, downing a few drinks and indulging in illicit drugs. But now it’s Monday morning and soon after you arrive at work you get asked to take part in random workplace drug testing. Anxiety kicks in immediately. Will you still have drugs in...

Drug testing

Workplace drug testing mightn’t make good dinner conversation, but it plays an important role in keeping workers safe.

Let’s talk about workplace drug testing

September 17, 2019September 17, 2019MichaelLeave a comment

Integrity Sampling earns its living from helping clients throughout Australia with workplace drug and alcohol management services. We’ve been doing it since 2001. Drug and alcohol management – which includes drug testing and alcohol testing – is our sole business and we are experts at what we do. However, that doesn’t mean we are immune...

Drug testing

Workplace drug testing is one way to help combat the effect of the use of drugs such as ICE in regional areas.

Drug usage in regional areas raises questions about drug testing

July 9, 2019July 9, 2019MichaelLeave a comment

There was an interesting article in a regional newspaper recently regarding the concern from the agricultural industry about the high use of the drug ICE in regional areas. So, let’s take a look at the article and the questions it has raised about workplace drug testing. The article was published by The Stawell Times-News and...

If you’re nervous about getting caught during workplace drug testing, you’re not alone and like others you may have conducted a Google search to find out more.

Nervous about workplace drug testing? You’re not alone

May 21, 2019May 21, 2019MichaelLeave a comment

If you’re nervous about drug testing in your workplace, here’s some good news – you’re not alone! According to research by an American human resources screening firm, JDP, there are a lot of people in the US who are nervous about workplace drug testing and they’re Googling and conducting Internet searches to find out more....

Drug testing

What are the recent drug trends and what do they mean for workplace drug testing?

Australian drug trends and what it means for workplace drug testing

October 23, 2018October 23, 2018MichaelLeave a comment

As workplace drug testing providers we always cast a keen eye on creditable reports into drug use in Australia and a recent one to be published was the Australian Drug Trends 2018 report. The report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre is particularly interesting because of the way information is gathered. It involves...

Drug testing

The change that requires those who want to purchase painkillers containing codeine to see a doctor for a prescription, instead of purchasing over the counter, appears to have resulted in a reduction in the number of positive workplace drug testing results for opiates. Codeine is an opioid drug that is closely related to morphine, and other medications, as well as the illicit drug heroin. The codeine change, which was introduced in Australia on 1 February this year, was brought in to reduce the harm caused by overuse and abuse of codeine specifically and opiates in general. Another key reason for the change was the lack of evidence to show that codeine medications are any more effective for pain relief, colds, flus and other ailments than similar medications that don’t have the same harmful effects as codeine. As we’ve mentioned in the past in our blog, the use of codeine medications can result in positive workplace drug testing results. This is particularly the case when the drug is taken above recommended dosages, either inadvertently or deliberately. So, has the change reduced the number of positive opiate results? In short, yes. Integrity Sampling has compared workplace drug testing results from testing carried out in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania in specific industries between April and August 2017, against the same period and involving the same industries in 2018. The significance of this period is that it is the traditional cold and flu season and is the period when opiate positive results have usually risen. While the sample size is relatively small (less than 5000) the results show that compared to 68 positive results for opiates during the April – August period in 2017, there were only 37 in 2018. That’s a significant reduction of around 46 per cent. During the same periods, cannabis and methamphetamine positives rose (46 positives in 2017 compared with 56 in 2018 for cannabis, and 56 positives in 2017 compared with 79 in 2018 for methamphetamines. As mentioned, the sample size is small and we’d like to see results in subsequent years before making any ground-breaking statements, but it is none-the-less an important drop and a positive step forward.

Workplace drug testing highlights drop in opiate positives

September 25, 2018October 24, 2018MichaelLeave a comment

The change that requires those who want to purchase painkillers containing codeine to see a doctor for a prescription, instead of purchasing over the counter, appears to have resulted in a reduction in the number of positive workplace drug testing results for opiates. Codeine is an opioid drug that is closely related to morphine, and...

A drug testing disgrace

July 17, 2018July 17, 2018MichaelLeave a comment

If you own or manage a workplace, how confident are you that your employees are coming to work in a fit and safe condition? Is it possible that one or more of your employees turn up to work occasionally with drugs in their system? Perhaps one of your employees is like a Mr Rudd, who...

Education and training a vital part of workplace drug testing

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018MichaelLeave a comment

You’ve developed a drugs and alcohol policy for your business and are conducting regular workplace drug testing, so you now relax knowing you’ve done all you can to protect your business against the misuse of drugs and alcohol… Or have you? Providing information, education and training to employers in regards to drugs and alcohol is...