Instant Versus Lab Drug Testing

If you’re considering making a drug testing program for your employees, you may want to consider using instant drug testing instead of using lab testing for this purpose. Below are some of the reasons that this form of drug testing has an advantage over the traditional lab testing method.

• Expediency: Instant drug testing methods allow the employer the ability to test their workers and have the results in a very short span (generally no more than 30 minutes per test) which is far quicker than the week or more that most labs require to reach a result. This also means a much quicker ability to respond to positive test results.
• Savings: Most lab testing methods require a lab technician to be paid to complete each test or which the cost of shipping must be factored in as well as the cost of the test itself. This means that the cost of testing is much higher than a simple instant test which doesn’t require a special technician or shipping to be completed. Buying and using an instant test means saving this extra money.
• Efficiency: This also means that there are far fewer people who would need to be evaluated if a mistake occurred that resulted in a false positive. If testing needed to be redone, another test could be completed within a short period of the first test. By having less people involved in the process, it is also far less likely that the test could be deliberately tampered with.
• True Spontaneity: When you have a much easier to use drug test with far less maintenance and wait time involved, it’s far easier to randomly plan when and where to do the testing. The randomness of drug testing is the most important part of getting a truly accurate result from your employees. By removing several parts of the planning process, you can more readily plan a testing date without making it obvious to your employees.
• Save Time: By using this method, you will be able to avoid the cost of paying both your employee and a tech to go to another location and for the wait period that often occurs with the older method of testing. There will also be more direct results that you can base further action on (Normally there are long wait periods as the results are verified after being given a non-negative status before a clear positive result is determined).This saves time for everyone.
• Makes Sense: Many drug testing centers use instant testing as well. So by doing the testing yourself, you will save extra costs and extraneous waiting periods associated with lab testing. By testing with instant tests you reduce the cost spent overall by spending far less for those who don’t test positive for the test in the first place. Thos who get a non-negative result can always be sent on to a regular lab for another test to verify the results and determine the next course of action afterward.