Drug testing is often a part of the hiring process, especially for jobs requiring high safety. Employers can test for several illegal substances and even some doctor-prescribed medications. Samples can be collected from urine, saliva, blood, breath and hair. Some samples only show a few hours or, at most, a day of usage, while others can provide insight into longer-term use.
Saliva Test
A saliva drug test, or a mouth swab test, can identify drugs in an employee’s system. These tests are quick, inexpensive, and offer instant pass/fail results in less than five minutes. However, a mouth swab test’s detection window is limited to a few hours at most, whereas urine and blood testing can detect substances for up to a day. This type of test may be useful for safety-sensitive employees in highly regulated industries such as transportation or manufacturing. In addition to pre-employment testing, employers are often required by state or federal regulations to perform different types of drug testing for existing employees. These screenings can be bundled into an annual physical examination or conducted whenever supervisors suspect employees are using illegal drugs. In addition, an employer may require a new hire to undergo drug and alcohol testing if offered a higher position after a workplace accident or when a probationary period ends.
Urine drug tests are the least invasive of all types of employment drug testing. They’re the most common form of pre-employment screening, and they screen for the use of marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines/methamphetamines, PCP, heroin, opioids, and other illicit substances. Urine tests only show traces of past drug use and don’t indicate current impairment. Urine tests can also screen for metabolites of legal prescription medications such as morphine, methadone, and oxycodone.
Urine Test
The most common drug test, urine testing, is often done by an off-site laboratory. It can identify a variety of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, and opiates, and is the only test that has been certified for nationally required drug screening. During a urine test, an applicant or employee provides a sample of their urine to be tested. Urine tests are used in pre-employment screening, when an employer makes a conditional job offer, and during drug testing programs required by law. Companies also often use them based on reasonable suspicion of drug use and after an on-the-job accident or injury.
A urine test begins with a quick screening using an immunoassay to detect the presence of drugs and their metabolites in the sample. If the results indicate the presence of a prohibited substance, a more detailed confirmatory test is conducted on a separate portion of the sample using GC/MS. GC/MS is a more accurate and reliable method to identify specific substances in the sample.
Employers can choose to conduct a single test, a multi-panel test, or a comprehensive test. Choosing the right test depends on the type of drug being tested for and the optimum time to detect usage of that particular substance. For example, marijuana may be caught in a urine test up to five days after use, but a blood or hair test will provide more accurate information on immediate usage.
Blood Test
An employee’s system for the presence of illegal drugs can be determined with a blood test. The test is performed by a medical practitioner who draws blood from a vein in your arm, usually using a numbing needle. After that, the blood is taken to a lab for examination. Blood tests are highly accurate but very invasive and expensive, so private employers rarely use them. They also have short detection windows that only last for a few hours, and they can be affected by certain foods, such as poppy seeds, which can trigger opiate results. A urinalysis is the most commonly used drug test for pre-employment screening. This test checks for traces of illegal drugs and prescription medicines taken for non-medical purposes (assuming the medication is longer than prescribed or used for something other than its intended purpose). Urine tests are federally mandated for regulated industries and are often chosen by companies with safety-sensitive working environments.
Employers can also require drug screenings for current employees, including regular and random testing. They can also conduct a test for probable cause or reasonable suspicion when a supervisor notices behavior that may suggest drug or alcohol use. Employees who refuse to take a required drug test may lose their jobs, be denied employment, or have legal action brought against them.
Hair Test
A hair drug test, often called a hair follicle test, can determine if someone has misused prescription or illicit drugs. A lab technician collects 100 strands of an employee’s or applicant’s hair cut close to the scalp for testing. Hair tests have a wider detection window than urine or saliva testing and can detect drug use up to 90 days ago. It will not return results for alcohol. The detection window of hair samples makes them an attractive option for employers because cheating, adulterating, or substituting a sample is very difficult. It is also less invasive than other body fluid tests and can identify specific drug metabolites more effectively. Hair samples are tested using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Negative test results indicate no drugs or metabolites were detected in the sample. A negative impact is a strong indicator that an individual did not consume the target drug or consumed it outside of the detection window of the test. Some industries have regulatory requirements that require routine drug testing of employees and applicants, while others may only mandate testing for safety-sensitive positions. Regardless of the industry or regulatory environment, employers must understand state and local laws regarding workplace drug screening policies to comply.
