Drug and alcohol testing

Usdaw points out that: “One of the trickiest questions in relation to any drug and alcohol policy is the issue of testing. Screening or testing for drugs is a sensitive issue because of the civil liberties, data protection and employment issues involved.”

The HSE’s advice to employers with regard to drug screening is that there may be a case for considering its introduction “particularly in certain critical jobs (for example, staff who have responsibility for making safety-critical decisions such as drivers, pilots and some machinery operators) in which impairment due to drugs could have disastrous effects for the individual, colleagues, members of the public and the environment”.

However, it adds that: “Screening is only likely to be acceptable if it can be seen to be part of an organisation’s occupational health policy and is clearly designed to prevent risks to the misuser and others. Screening by itself will never be the complete answer to problems caused by drug misuse.” It sets out similar advice in relation to alcohol testing and screening.

According to Usdaw, alcohol testing with an accurate breath-testing machine is reasonably straightforward — the testing procedure is similar to road-side testing for drink driving. Most organisations who test for alcohol adopt the same limits as for drink driving (see Chapter 2) and the test is clearly one for impairment.