Drug and Alcohol Screening

Medwork’s substance abuse testing program

Medwork’s substance abuse testing program

Staffed by experts in Department of Transport (DOT) regulatory compliance, Medworks’ substance abuse testing program helps you create a drug and alcohol free workplace.

About our substance abuse testing program 

Testing employee’s for alcohol and drugs is capturing the interest of an increasing number of employers, as drugs and alcohol become more prevalent in the workplace. One in three men and one in five women drink over the recommended limit, while nearly one-third of workers under 30 have taken drugs in the past 12 months, statistics show. However, employers must tread carefully in this legal minefield. Drug and alcohol testing are highly controversial and raise issues of privacy and human rights.

Why worry about drugs and alcohol in the workplace?

Because the worker next to you may be drunk, high or hungover. More than 70 percent of substance abusers hold jobs; one worker in four, ages 18 to 34 used drugs in teh past year and one worker in three knows of drug sales in the workplace. In the workplace, the problems of these substabce abusers become your problems,. They increase risk of accident, lower productivity, raise insurance costs and reduce profits. They can cost you your job, they can cost you your life.

Does it threaten jobs?

Substance abusers don’t have to indulge on the job to have a negative impact on the workplace. Compared to their non-abusing co-workers,  they are:

  • 10 times more likely to miss work
  • 3.6 times more likely to be involved in on-the-job accidents (and 5 times more likely to injure themselves or another in the process)
  • 5 times more likely to file a workers compensation claim
  • 33% less productive
  • responsible for health care costs that are three times as high.

Operating machinery under the influence of alcohol or drugs is clearly high-risk. But danger also increases when reflexes or judgment are compromised to any degree by drugs or alcohol. And substance abusers are not only 5 times more likely than other workers to cause injuries, they are also responsible for 40 percent of all industrial fatalities.

What is a drugtest?

A drugtest is a technical analysis of a biological specimen to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. The biological specimen collected for such an analysis can be a sample of a person’s:

  • Blood
  • Saliva
  • Urine
  • Sweat
  • Hair

Depending on your company policies, the purpose of the testing, privacy issues for the donor and logistical difficulties (where is the drugtesting taking place?) one specimen will be more adapt, easier or cheaper than the other.

Detection time

One of the first things that needs to be done when choosing a certain type of specimen is determine the dectection time you deem necessary for the drugtest to be performed. Alcohol for example is quickly degisted by the human body and an alcohol test performed on a breath specimen or sample of a person’s blood will show a negative result already within a few hours after the ingestion of alcohol took place.

If a person’s urine is being tested, it will show the use of for example Cocaine or Marihuana for a period of more than two weeks prior to the testing. And finally, by testing a person’s hair sample you will be able to determine any drug use that has been taking place in the last months, leading to immediate legal and privacy issues. What right do you as an employer have to know what an employee did two months ago when you cannot prove that at the time of the specimen collection this person was actually under the influence of an illicit substance while performing his duties?

Legal defensibility

The most strict rules and guidelines for drugtesting in the workplace are set forth by the American Department Of Transport (DOT). To assure that your company is able to set up and execute a 100% legal defensible drug and alcohol testing program, Medwork has adopted DOT rules and guidelines and all our specimen collectors and collections meet DOT requirements and regulatory compliance. As Medwork will provide you with a legally sound execution of the specimen collection and on-site testing, you as an employer will need to provide a sound legal basis by having the right Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace Policy in place. We will be more than happy to submit your companies' policy to a quickscan and help you determine if your policy on drugs and alcohol appears legally sound.

MRO services

A Medical Review Officer is the highest ranking officer within the Federally regulated drug and alcohol testing programs in the United States. All positive test results of a drug- and/or alcoholtest, need to be verified by a licensed physician trained in the field of evaluating laboratory confirmed drug test results. An interview with the donor and possible medical evaluation may be necessary for example, to determine whether or not there may be a valid medical explanation for a positive test result. One thing is certain: if you have a MRO Verified positive test result, it will stand in court. Medwork is very proud to have as part of our team, the only two licensed MRO's, registered under the American Association for Medical Review Officers (AAMRO), in the Caribbean.


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