There are two testing regimes that can be adopted - random testing and for-cause testing. You need to be clear about which you are thinking about.

Random testing means testing staff purely at random. You have to show that it really is random and you are not picking on individuals or leaving some people out. Testing someone after an accident is not random testing.

For-cause testing means that when you have reasonable suspicions (because of an accident or behaviour) you test.

Either way you need to tread very carefully, make very clear just what you are going to do and how you are going to do it and what the consequences may be, and consult the workforce thoroughly before proceeding. Claiming you are going to do random testing without thinking it through will only lead to trouble.

There are huge HR issues involved and I suggest getting HR to lead on this.

At a previous employers we had random property and alcohol checks. This was done by having a button with a red and green light which randomly changed when pressed as people walked out of the door. The staff checking were also included in this process- if anything was a concern, it went to the line manager and HR.

I was previously involved in the implementation of drugs and alcohol testing procedures at a previous employers and we used the services of Synergy Health to assist us with the entire process from the development of policy/procedures, awareness training for management plus training for selected individuals in carrying out the actual testing in-house, purchase/calibration of testing equipment and laboratory analysis as required. We tested on pre-employment and for cause basis (e.g. following an accident or with reasonable suspicion circumstances verified by at least two individuals). We didn't do random checks simply because some of our management couldn't get there heads around the concept of 'random'.

Our testing procedures used a Drager AT-6810 Breathalyser which required 6 monthly calibration and DrugCheck® Integrated Cups for the drugs testing which produced a negative or non-negative result within a matter or minutes; a non-negative result was required to be sent for lab anaylsis to ensure we had a legally defensible result to base our next action on. We never took any action based on the instant test kits other than to suspend pending lab results.

The process allowed for the declaration of medications (both prescribed and over the counter) prior to giving samples as some basic cold/flu/painkiller medications can produce a non-negative result with the integrated cups method; lab analysis would then confirm that the test was positive but consistent with declared medications or otherwise.

As others have said there are also legal/HR implications, even more so if you happen to be unionised, so get everyone one on board at the earliest possible stage.

This document from Synergy might give you some food for thought: http://www.synergyhealth...cification_manual_13.pdf

For the record I have no affiliation with Synergy Health other than a satisfied customer.

If you wish to contact me by PM with any questions I be happy to share my experiences further.

Hi All,
Thank you for your comments and advice. I knew this would be a can of worms that needed a lot of thought and energy to put in place.
Thanks to all that sent me a PM and the download links to more information.
Now that I am armed with this information, it can now be raised again at the next meeting and decide a plan from there!
Thanks Again

Science 101 - all tests are conducted to prove a theorey. If the result does not match the theorey the test was a failure.

So we have just finished the Olympic games in Rio. The USA is top of the medal table and despite one or two repeat offenders are not tarred with the doping brush which decimated the Russian representation.

Yet in the US they routinely use growth hormone in livestock farming (one of the areas of contention in TTIP) but doping does not seem to detect this?

This being the same continent concerned about BPA transfer from an infants plastic formula bottle?

Still relevant to the OP - seen quite a few well balanced people turn in to raging temper problems as they discover steroids at the gym.