laboratory drug test when

When should a workplace drug test be sent to lab for further testing

Sending a drug test to a lab for further testing

drug test sent to lab for further testing

On-site workplace drug testing is an easy, fast and accurate way of undertaking workplace drug screening to excluding clear, or negative results, with a minimum of disruption and expense to the company.

Rapid on-site drug testing kits will quickly screen out all your negative results, allowing most of your staff to get back to work, fast.

But what to do with non-negative on-site workplace drug test results?

All non negative ( ie positive ) on site drug tests should be sent to the laboratory for confirmation drug testing, in a workplace setting. 

What if the sample donor has declared medication consumption in the period before the sample was taken? Should this always require an expensive laboratory confirmation drug test?

The simple answer is yes. If you are undertaking drug and alcohol screening on employees with consequences for that employment, and or consequences for workplace safety, you have a duty to confirm that the actions are being taken only after a confirmed and accredited drug test result is obtained.

The simple reason for this is that, while rapid on-site drug tests are very accurate, they are not 100% accurate, It makes no difference what brand of drug testing kits you use, none are put on the European or UK market without meeting stringent quality certification requirements, but all can give a small number of false-positive and false-negative results.

The ultimate confirmation drug test is a laboratory gas chromatography/mass spectrometry laboratory confirmation drug test, often abbreviated to GC/MS test of the original sample., performed in an accredited laboratory. Accreditation ensures ongoing quality control of the drug test results. The samples sent, almost always urine, need to be collected using a full chain of custody system and documentation to allow the reported certificate of results to be admissible evidentially in a tribunal or disciplinary proceedings.

Even when medication is declared which would possibly explain the positive on-site drug test result, you should still send the sample for confirmation drug testing, This will identify if the result is the declared drug, or if it is being taken or declared to cover up other drug abuse.

How often will we need to do a laboratory confirmation drug test

Expect to need to confirmation drug test between 4-6% of on-site drug tests performed.

How many lab confirmation drug tests will we need?

This will depend on the number of employees that you are drug testing and how often.

We recommend all small business buyers to have at least 2-3 laboratory drug test confirmation packs available on-site, to enable the immediate progression to a confirmation laboratory GC-MS analysis drug test after a failed rapid on-site drug screen.

Our medically trained directors give free MO advice on GC/MS results interpretation of all results obtained using drug testing kits supplied by our company UK Drug Testing.

More information on workplace drug testing for employers

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