Alcohol & Drugs - OHSA Occupational Health Services Australia

Drug and Alcohol Testing

OHSA has been assisting workplaces develop strategies to manage fitness for work issues for many decades including:

• Developing Workplace Policy and Procedures for Alcohol and other Drugs (AOD)
• Negotiating D&A program implementation during EBA periods
• Developing D&A training courses for management and workers
• Implementing D&A programs

Interesting Facts:

Research into the possibilities of using breath to test for alcohol in a person’s body dates as far back as 1874, when Francis E. Anstie made the observation that small amounts of alcohol were excreted in breath. In 1927 a Chicago chemist, William Duncan McNally, invented a breathalyzer with one use was for housewives to test whether their husbands had been drinking. In late 1927, in a case in Marlborough, England, a Dr. Gorsky, Police Surgeon, asked a suspect to inflate a football bladder with his breath. Since the 2 liters of the man’s breath contained 1.5 ml of ethanol, Dr. Gorsky testified before the court that the defendant was “50% drunk”!

OHSA can also deliver training addressing the following Australian / New Zealand Standards:

• AS/NZS 4760 – 2006 Procedures for specimen collection and the detection and quantitation of drugs in oral fluid
• AS/NZS 4308 – 2008 Procedures for specimen collection and the detection and quantitation of drugs of abuse in urine

Our training programs will address the following criteria:

• Understanding Drug types and their effects on the body
• Review of current Australian Standards
• Understanding Urine and Oral Fluid Test Cut-off Levels
• Identifying appropriate Drug Testing methods including Urine & Oral Testing methodologies
• Understanding Breath Alcohol Testing Methods
• Determining Testing  Frequency Options
• How to Arrange Testing
• Identifying Types of Drug Testing Equipment including Urine and Oral Fluid Test
• Understanding Confirmatory Testing Processes at the Laboratory
• Understanding Chain of Custody Requirements, Processes & Equipment
• Knowing how to test the integrity of the Specimen
• Knowing how to perform a Drug and Alcohol Test
• Understanding the procedure to package a specimen for delivery to the laboratory
• Being able to interpret a Pathology Report
• Understanding what a good Drug and Alcohol Policy and Procedure should contain.

OHSA can also provide Accredited Alcohol and Drug Testing Staff to your workplace. Contact our office on 1300 647 200.