Workplace drink and drug testing

Had to go for an induction today to be able to take a truck on a large government back construction project.
Part of it was to pee in a cup to test for drugs and do a breathalyser.
Never realy thought about it until I got chatting to the bloke doing the test. Aparently what these tests look for with drugs is not the drug itself but metabolites that the drug is broken down to by the body.
These will be present way after the high and drug it self is out of your system and with certain drugs can be a number of weeks after the drug was consumed.
I know il get the all drugs are absolutely awful and anyone who has in hailed a joint is basically a junkie comments but I seems to me unfair someone could loose there job for having a Rastafarian old Holborn on a Friday the following Wednesday.
I’m not condoning driving round been as high as a kite the same as you shouldn’t be driving round after knocking back a dozen martinis.
Just realy think we need to be more grown up about drugs in this and other country’s and surely there is a better way of testing to see if people are at work stoned same as we can breathalyse people to see if they are under the influence and a danger rather than punishing them for having a light ale last week.

By the way I passed so not trying to push an agenda or moan about anything was just a thought about it all

kr79:
Had to go for an induction today to be able to take a truck on a large government back construction project.
Part of it was to pee in a cup to test for drugs and do a breathalyser.
Never realy thought about it until I got chatting to the bloke doing the test. Aparently what these tests look for with drugs is not the drug itself but metabolites that the drug is broken down to by the body.
These will be present way after the high and drug it self is out of your system and with certain drugs can be a number of weeks after the drug was consumed.
I know il get the all drugs are absolutely awful and anyone who has in hailed a joint is basically a junkie comments but I seems to me unfair someone could loose there job for having a Rastafarian old Holborn on a Friday the following Wednesday.
I’m not condoning driving round been as high as a kite the same as you shouldn’t be driving round after knocking back a dozen martinis.
Just realy think we need to be more grown up about drugs in this and other country’s and surely there is a better way of testing to see if people are at work stoned same as we can breathalyse people to see if they are under the influence and a danger rather than punishing them for having a light ale last week.

By the way I passed so not trying to push an agenda or moan about anything was just a thought about it all

I was on a job a few months ago on a similar project. We were supposed to have 4 labourers. 3 Failed the drug test because they’d been on the packet recently, 4th went home in solidarity… Apparently it’s a 5 year ban from the industry if you get caught… But only in an operational area. This happened before they had the chance to get there, so all was well and they were back the next week. What a joke :smiley:

A lot of them testing kits are poor.Trust me :slight_smile:

The only HR type person I have ever had any respect for once told me that 99% of workplace drug & alcohol tests are conducted illegally & open up the Co’ to massive amounts of legal problems should anyone who was asked/forced to take one take offence & consult a solicitor.

Me, I’ve always considered that ‘trust’ is the single most important foundation of any relationship. Where there is no trust then there is no relationship, this includes the employee/employer relationship. I have been asked several times to “blow in this bag” & “pee in this jar” & I have walked away from the job shortly thereafter, not even bothering to hang around for the result.

Agree with your sentiments kr79.
Moderation in moderation etc. Dont see a problem with someone having a joint or whatever on their time off. I have never taken anything stronger than an asprin,so have nothing to lose by taking a pee test. Were starting in our place next week,2 weeks of classes about the dangers,then 2 weeks of intensive testing,then ongoing random testing,drivers,warehouse and office.
My only fear would be that if one was in company of a smoker,would the “passive” inhalation of same vapour/smoke make me show as positive.Apparently the residue stays in your blood/pee for a few weeks!

halewood:
A lot of them testing kits are poor.Trust me :slight_smile:

Now how the hell do you know that halewood?

whiplash:

halewood:
A lot of them testing kits are poor.Trust me :slight_smile:

Now how the hell do you know that halewood?

Word.on.the.street .
:wink:

halewood:
A lot of them testing kits are poor.Trust me :slight_smile:

Maybe you’re right. I dunno.
Anyone know what the standards for these tests are?

And would your emojie change from a smilie one, if you caught a false positive?
Sent home with no shift and no pay?

Are there any appeal procedures at these places?

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Franglais:

halewood:
A lot of them testing kits are poor.Trust me :slight_smile:

Maybe you’re right. I dunno.
Anyone know what the standards for these tests are?

And would your emojie change from a smilie one, if you caught a false positive?
Sent home with no shift and no pay?

Are there any appeal procedures at these places?

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

Considering people have been labelled as smackheads for failing these tests after eating bread with poppy seeds in.Yes I’d imagine there is!!

OK. Wanna look at a guesstimate?
Making lots of assumptions here but the basic maths holds good. I’ll just give an easy example to keep it simple.
Say a company has 2,000 workers. They use a testing system that’s 99% accurate. (99% of results are accurate. 1% of negative results are false, and 1% of positive results are false).
Of it’s workers say 5% that’s 100 are on drugs?
Of the drug users 99 will be seen and be sent home, one will squeeze through and go to work.
Of the clean workers 19 will be falsely accused of drug misuse.

So the company “sees” 118 drug users every time it tests, and should know that a good proportion of these are innocents.

What do they do?
I’ve never been involved with any testing of this sort so don’t know what happens next.

I’ve no idea how accurate these things really are. But any sort of “on site” testing with less than clinical cleanliness, looking to detect small amounts of substances…

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

Franglais:
OK. Wanna look at a guesstimate?
Making lots of assumptions here but the basic maths holds good. I’ll just give an easy example to keep it simple.
Say a company has 2,000 workers. They use a testing system that’s 99% accurate. (99% of results are accurate. 1% of negative results are false, and 1% of positive results are false).
Of it’s workers say 5% that’s 100 are on drugs?
Of the drug users 99 will be seen and be sent home, one will squeeze through and go to work.
Of the clean workers 19 will be falsely accused of drug misuse.

So the company “sees” 118 drug users every time it tests, and should know that a good proportion of these are innocents.

What do they do?
I’ve never been involved with any testing of this sort so don’t know what happens next.

I’ve no idea how accurate these things really are. But any sort of “on site” testing with less than clinical cleanliness, looking to detect small amounts of substances…

Sent from my SM-G361F using Tapatalk

Less than clinical indeed. In my experience, it’s done in toilet cubicles… I know plenty blokes who are fond of a bit of gear or a puff, but I’ve never known anybody to fail a test apart from the ones I mentioned. In my opinion it’s just virtue-signalling rubbish anyway. Firms do it to show how lovely they are to their customers.

The bloke conducting it said a fair few come back failed then what happens is the sample goes off to a lab where a more detailed test is done.
Aparently as stated eating food with poppy seeds in and certain over the counter medication can throw up a positive in the initial basic test but this can be eliminated during the lab test.
Not sure about pay if you are suspended while this goes on.
Reason I got Chating was I had to go to the dentist yesterday for a filling. I told the dentist about the test and he gave me a note detailing what drugs he used.
I gave this to the tester before incase there was a problem but it never showed up.

You can buy clean ■■■■ off the net with just a quick google search for just such an occasion. In fact, you can sell your ■■■■ if it’s clean, where do you think it all comes from?

Not taking the ■■■■!

kr79:
The bloke conducting it said a fair few come back failed then what happens is the sample goes off to a lab where a more detailed test is done.
Aparently as stated eating food with poppy seeds in and certain over the counter medication can throw up a positive in the initial basic test but this can be eliminated during the lab test.
Not sure about pay if you are suspended while this goes on.
Reason I got Chating was I had to go to the dentist yesterday for a filling. I told the dentist about the test and he gave me a note detailing what drugs he used.
I gave this to the tester before incase there was a problem but it never showed up.

Worked at a place where a bloke got “done” for the poppy seed thing. He got suspended, came back all clear, he was fine. If I was him, I’d have gone for “slimming pills”, nobody could have denied he needed them :laughing:

Drempels:

kr79:
The bloke conducting it said a fair few come back failed then what happens is the sample goes off to a lab where a more detailed test is done.
Aparently as stated eating food with poppy seeds in and certain over the counter medication can throw up a positive in the initial basic test but this can be eliminated during the lab test.
Not sure about pay if you are suspended while this goes on.
Reason I got Chating was I had to go to the dentist yesterday for a filling. I told the dentist about the test and he gave me a note detailing what drugs he used.
I gave this to the tester before incase there was a problem but it never showed up.

Worked at a place where a bloke got “done” for the poppy seed thing. He got suspended, came back all clear, he was fine. If I was him, I’d have gone for “slimming pills”, nobody could have denied he needed them :laughing:

Slimming pills would most likely be ephedrine, then he would have been nicked for speed. Let’s see him get out of that one by saying he ate a bun!

jbaz73:
You can buy clean ■■■■ off the net with just a quick google search for just such an occasion. In fact, you can sell your ■■■■ if it’s clean, where do you think it all comes from?

Not taking the ■■■■!

They measure the temperature so not sure how you would get round that one went in to a cubicle to go but was no door but blokes milling round so don’t know if you would of got away with getting a sample out.
My biggest problem was trying to go on demand

jbaz73:

Drempels:

kr79:
The bloke conducting it said a fair few come back failed then what happens is the sample goes off to a lab where a more detailed test is done.
Aparently as stated eating food with poppy seeds in and certain over the counter medication can throw up a positive in the initial basic test but this can be eliminated during the lab test.
Not sure about pay if you are suspended while this goes on.
Reason I got Chating was I had to go to the dentist yesterday for a filling. I told the dentist about the test and he gave me a note detailing what drugs he used.
I gave this to the tester before incase there was a problem but it never showed up.

Worked at a place where a bloke got “done” for the poppy seed thing. He got suspended, came back all clear, he was fine. If I was him, I’d have gone for “slimming pills”, nobody could have denied he needed them :laughing:

Slimming pills would most likely be ephedrine, then he would have been nicked for speed. Let’s see him get out of that one by saying he ate a bun!

Years ago, “bluies” were prescribed as slimming pills. No idea if they still are.

kr79:

jbaz73:
You can buy clean ■■■■ off the net with just a quick google search for just such an occasion. In fact, you can sell your ■■■■ if it’s clean, where do you think it all comes from?

Not taking the ■■■■!

They measure the temperature so not sure how you would get round that one went in to a cubicle to go but was no door but blokes milling round so don’t know if you would of got away with getting a sample out.
My biggest problem was trying to go on demand

Me too! Don’t think the bloke was too bothered about temps

working for tesco a while ago meant if your tested and anything shows your suspended on full pay for 2 weeks till the lab identifies exactly what showed.tesco drivers would swallow a cpl of co codomal or similar as it fails you,then clears you after a 2 week paid holiday.
do the same on agency and your banned for the 2 weeks from tesco without pay and you just work elsewhere.

if you in a toilet cubicle could you not flush the toilet and use the fresh water or is it a different cubicle they direct you to