In today’s fast-paced work environment, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of employees is a top priority for employers. Substance misuse not only jeopardises workplace safety but also impacts productivity, morale, and overall success of the organisation.

Now, employers have lots of viable options available to best meet their needs when choosing an appropriate sample type for drug testing.

Below is a brief overview of the key qualities of the three major sample types for drug testing: urine, oral fluid, and hair:

Urine Testing

Urine is the most common sample type used in drug testing. Urine testing is good for detecting recent drug use.

• Flexibility—Urine testing can be conducted via laboratory analysis or point-of-care test (POCT) devices.
• Legality— Lab-based urine testing is the specimen that has been used the longest for the purposes of workplace drug testing.
• Accuracy—When conducted via an accredited lab and using standard testing procedures, urine testing is considered scientifically accurate, and results have been proven legally defensible from an accuracy perspective.
• Ease of Use—Collections are often conducted by professional technicians who typically follow strict best practice procedures, which ensures consistency and integrity in the testing process. POCT can be administered by professional technicians or employees who have been trained to follow the same collection procedures that apply to lab-based testing.
• Window of Detection—Many factors affect detection times, but most drugs can be detected in urine samples for up to 2-3 days at the cut-off levels commonly utilised for workplace testing (1-4 days for cannabinoids).² However, because urine is used to detect drug metabolites rather than the parent drug, it can be a few hours before a drug can be detected in a urine specimen.

• Adulteration—Drug test cheating efforts typically fall into one of three categories: dilution, substitution, and adulteration. Urine samples are susceptible to all three methods. A quick trip to the internet will yield literally hundreds of websites offering free advice or expensive products designed to help drug users beat a urine drug test. Sample collection officer training; the implementation of robust sample collection procedures; and POCT and laboratory-based sample validity tests will significantly reduce the likelihood of a sample being substituted, adulterated, diluted, or tampered with.

Oral Fluid Testing

Oral fluid testing can be good for detecting recent drug use. It is ideal where collection facilities are limited and reduces the likelihood of tampering.

• Flexibility—Oral fluid testing can be conducted via laboratory analysis or point-of-care test devices.
• Legality—Lab-based oral fluid testing has been conducted for many years, and it is a robust way of detecting if someone has recently consumed drugs. The use of POCT devices is also generally permitted.
• Accuracy—When conducted via an accredited lab and using standard testing procedures for on-site collections, oral fluid is considered just as scientifically accurate as urine testing and results have proven legally defensible from an accuracy perspective.
• Ease of Use—Oral fluid collections are easy to administer, can be performed anytime, anywhere, and eliminate many of the steps required as part of a urine collection, such as the need for a dedicated “clean” toilet facility. Employees can be trained to conduct collections, which reduces costs by eliminating the use of professional technicians and time away from work incurred when donors and managers are sent to off-site collection facilities. Additionally, collections can be performed in nearly any setting without the often-extensive preparations needed to perform on-site urine collections.
• Window of Detection—Most drugs, such as cannabis and cocaine, can be detected in oral fluid samples for up to a day or so, or up to a day or two for certain drugs. ¹ The parent drug is detectable in oral fluid samples making it possible to detect drugs almost immediately after use.

• Adulteration—Due to the observed collection process for oral fluid samples, it is more difficult to carry out typical drug test cheating methods such as adulteration or substitution.
  

Hair Testing

Hair testing is best for detecting historic drug use.

• Flexibility—Hair testing is only available as a lab-based test.
• Legality—Hair testing is generally permitted in the UK. All employers should always ensure they have consent from employees before testing.
• Accuracy—The science behind hair testing is well understood and established. The analysis of hair samples at the appropriate cut-offs is accurate as it uses the same analytical techniques as urine and oral fluid analysis.
• Ease of Use—Collecting hair samples is a more complex process compared to urine and oral fluid. A specific amount of hair at specified lengths must be collected to provide a viable sample. People without head hair can provide samples from other parts of the body.
• Window of Detection—By some accounts, most drugs are detectable in hair samples for approximately 90 days depending on several factors, such as the length of hair being tested. However, there is a lag time of up to 14 days after usage before most drugs can be detected in a hair sample. ¹
• Adulteration—It is much more difficult to adulterate a hair sample compared to urine, though there are products available that claim to mask the presence of drugs in a donor’s hair but have not been shown to be successful.

Conclusion

At a time when drug use, especially cannabis use, is increasing and more workplace drug tests are coming back positive, drug testing has never been more important. It helps to deter drug use and identify those who need help. Lab-based urine, oral fluid, hair testing, or single-use, POCT devices with urine or oral fluid represent viable options for companies. These can help organisations to ensure their places of work are free of the negative impact of workplace drug use and ultimately help create a safer, healthier, and more productive workplace.