Following Correct Procedures

A recent case in the construction industry highlights this point well during a routine Drug and Alcohol test on the morning shift. An Oral Fluid Drug Screening Test was conducted as part of the organisations’ policy using Alcolizer’s state-of-the-art ‘LE5 Druglizer™’ device. The returned result was UNCONFIRMED for Cocaine.

At this point, the correct procedure to confirm if the drug was present, in accordance with AS4760:2019ⁱ is to conduct an Oral Fluid Confirmation Test. The company policy stated this, as did the Technician conducting the test, as well as the site OHS Manager clearly stating the next step forward was to take the Oral Fluid Confirmation Test. However, the donor and (for reasons unknown) and the company Operations Manager insisted a Urine Drug Screening Test be conducted instead. After some debate the second oral fluid sample was gathered for confirmation analysis and sent to a designated NATA approved laboratory for analysis.

Fit for duty or not? Despite the Urine sample test being a breach of the company’s policy, the donor – with assistance from the Operations Manager – arranged for a competing Urine Test offsite; this test subsequently returned a NEGATIVE result for Cocaine. The donor returned to work with the Urine Drug Screening Result form and claimed that the Druglizer Oral Fluid Screening Result was incorrect. However, later the same day the Oral Fluid Confirmation Drug Test Result from the lab returned a POSITIVE result for Cocaine at 32ng/mL (the AS/NZS 4760:2019 cut-offs levels for screening in oral fluid for Cocaine is 50ng/mL and 25ng/mL at confirmation).

This situation emphasises the importance of immediately determining if a person if fit for work when they’re trying to set foot on site. It’s essential the company has a clearly defined policy and is compliant with Australian Standards. It’s crucial that workplace testers remain compliant to the workplace policy and Australian Standards (even when challenged by others).

Oral fluid testing is particularly effective for identifying recent substance use and fitness for work. Ensure you have an Australian Standard compliant Drug and Alcohol Policy and correctly trained Technicians to be able to enforce the Policy, even in the face of opposition. Reliable testing and training brings everything together and ensures the intent of your workplace testing is achieved every time.

Alcolizer Technology LE5 Druglizer offers fast and accurate workforce drug testing with absolute data Integrity and results that can’t be tampered with. For more information regarding different drug detection timeframes, view our white paper.