Drug and Alcohol Testing

Employee drug testing is increasingly being carried out by organisations due to the general recognition that the use of alcohol and other ‘recreational’ drugs can present a hazard in the workplace. Drug testing may also be useful in pre-employment assessment.

The main goals of drug and alcohol testing include:

To improve workplace safety
To improve productivity
To reduce product/service defects
To help employees overcome or modify their patterns of use of such substances

Urine Drug Testing
Drugs are well concentrated and excreted in urine, and testing involves techniques for detecting the various substances in a sample of urine. The collection of the sample and the subsequent laboratory testing is carried out in accordance with strict standards.

The following drugs may be tested for:

Cannabinoids (i.e. marijuana)
Amphetamines (e.g. speed, ecstasy, etc...)
Benzodiazepines (valium, etc...)
Cocaine
Opiates (e.g. heroin, morphine)
Barbiturates
Alcohol (ethanol)

Urine Collection
Urine for testing may be collected either supervised or witnessed according to the company’s OH&S protocol. Supervised collections are standard policy of Gribbles Pathology and are carried out by trained collection staff, in accordance with the Australian standard. Collection, labelling, and transport of the sample are carried out according to strict ‘Chain of Custody’ protocols as described in NATA guidelines. Chain of Custody documentation and procedures are designed to protect sample integrity and avoid sample tampering and claims of misidentification.

Screening, Testing and Confirmation
In accordance with Australian Standard, the initial laboratory testing is a ‘screening test’. Gribbles Pathology uses the EMIT technique (the system of choice for National Institute of Drug Abuse registered laboratories in the USA). The EMIT immunoassay procedure covers the six main drug classes. This is then followed by a Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) procedure to detect individual drugs and/or their metabolites, plus drugs not covered by the EMIT testing.

The above process has been found to give an accuracy of 97-99%. However, any screening test can give a false positive result on occasion and it is strongly recommended that all positive results be confirmed using a confirmatory Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) test. Screening rechecks can be requested by the referrer, without charge, on the original sample.

On Site Collection Devices
In addition to supplying staff for on site sample collection, Gribbles Pathology can supply Point of Care (POC) devices for on the spot drug and alcohol testing. These kits can test for a wide range of drugs of abuse and are designed for either urine based or saliva based drug testing.

Test Principle for On Site Devices
The kits are based on the principle of an immunochemical reaction between a chemically labelled drug (drug protein conjugate) and the drug or drug metabolites that may be present in the urine. The test strip contains a nitrocellulose membrane pre-coated with drug conjugate in the test region and a pad containing coloured antibody colloidal gold conjugate. During the test the urine/saliva sample migrates up the membrane and combines with the colloidal gold conjugate. When the drug is absent in the sample the coloured antibody colloidal gold conjugate binds with an immobilised drug protein to form a visible line in the test region. When the drug is present in sufficient concentration this line becomes invisible as the drug binds with the drug protein. Therefore the presence of a line on the test region indicates a negative result for the drug and the absence of a test line indicates a positive result for the drug.

A visible line generated by a different antigen/antibody reaction is also present at the control region of the test strip. This line should always appear, regardless of the presence of drugs or metabolites in the sample. The presence of the control line serves as a built in control that demonstrates that the test has been performed properly.

Drug/Metabolite	Urine Drug Kits	Saliva Drug Kits
Cannabis
Amphetamines
Methamphetamines
Opiates
Cocaine
Benzodiazepines

Effect of Medications
It is possible that some medications may lead to false positive results in the initial screening test. Staff for whom urine drug testing is requested should be asked to list all prescription and non-prescription medicines and supplements that they may be taking.

Urine Drug Collection Kit
Gribbles Pathology provides a convenient kit to facilitate urine specimen collection and labelling. The kit consists of a strong plastic transport tube with screw-on lid, two specimen bottles and caps, specimen ID labels, Chain of Custody request form, tamper-proof seals, temperature strip and specimen plastic bag. The kits are suitable for mailing or transport to Gribbles laboratories.

LABORATORY SCREENING TEST
Enzyme immunoassay (EMIT) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) is able to detect the following drug classes:

Cannabinoids
Methadone/Metabolites
Benzodiazepines
Cocaine/Metabolites
Opiates
Barbiturates
Alcohol (ethanol)

Confirmation: Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Length of time that drugs can be detected:
(Note: guide only, as duration of detectability is highly variable)

Drug	Approx Duration
Cannabinoids
Single Use	2-7 days
Light Use	Up to 10 days
Chronic Use	Up to 46 days
Cocaine	Up to 3 days
Chronic Use	Up to 22 days
Opiates	Up to 2 days
Benzodiazepines	Up to 3 days
Amphetamines	Up to 2-3 days
Alcohol (ethanol)	Up to 1 day

Formulating your Company Policy
The issue of testing for the misuse of alcohol and other drugs in the workplace can be an intimidating and sensitive issue and requires an understanding approach between the employer and employee including education, training and confidentiality. To be implemented successfully the program must be comprehensive and flexible and developed with input from all key stakeholders.

The range of services we offer our clients are:

Alcohol and drug awareness sessions
Policy development
Policy review
Corporate implementation of policy
Pre-employment drug screening and medicals
Random, for-cause and post incident testing
Sample collection and laboratory analysis
Employee rehabilitation and counselling
Training and presentation material
Supervisor training in the assessment and management of workplace alcohol and drug related incidents and issues
Administration of employee lists and selection process

Counselling and Rehabilitation
Working with our parent company, Healthscope Ltd, we can offer clients access to our comprehensive counselling and rehabilitation services. Healthscope Ltd is a Public Company which owns/manages psychiatric, medical/surgical and rehabilitation Hospitals. Drug and Alcohol related rehabilitation and counselling services are available in most Australian states. For more information contact Gribbles Commercial Business Department on (03) 9538 6777 or visit the Healthscope website at www.healthscopehospitals.com.au and look under the rehabilitation speciality.