Introduction

BibbEgan reserves the right under this policy to exercise alcohol and drug testing of its employees.

This policy applies to all employees, including management.

The term “drug” includes all drugs and psychoactive substances (including those formerly known as “legal highs”) that could adversely affect behaviour or performance and lead to an increased risk of accident and/or injury occurring in the workplace.

 

With-cause alcohol and drug testing

The employee will be tested for alcohol and drugs in all cases where he/she has had any involvement in a workplace accident or in any incident that has caused or could have caused a danger to health or safety. Testing will also be carried out where management has grounds to believe or suspect that the employee is or may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Any employee who notices obvious signs of alcohol or drug abuse in a colleague should report his/her observations and/or suspicions in confidence to Georgia Aggrey or Andy Wall.

 

Random alcohol and drug testing

Random alcohol and drug testing may be carried out on members of staff who work in safety-critical jobs, including those working with machinery/whose job duties involve driving/whose job involves responsibility for the care of others.

 

Carrying out tests

Employees are advised that a request for an employee to undergo alcohol and drug testing does not indicate that he/she is under any suspicion of wrongdoing.

An employee who unreasonably refuses to submit to an alcohol and drug test in accordance with BIBBEGAN’s rules will be subject to disciplinary action.

 

Action after a positive test

If a test proves positive, the employee will be invited to attend an interview with a senior manager. The employee will have the right to be accompanied by a colleague or trade union official at this interview.  The outcome of the interview will depend on the circumstances but could include:

• an offer for the employee to undergo a programme of medical treatment, rehabilitation or counselling: where the employee accepts that he/she has a problem with alcohol or drug misuse and is willing to cooperate with the employer in the provision of such support;
• a written disciplinary warning: where there are no safety issues involved and the circumstances are not serious, in which case the employee will be tested again three months;
• dismissal: where the effects of the employee’s alcohol or drug taking are or could be serious, for example if the employee works in a safety -critical job and his/her use of alcohol or drugs could affect performance, or where a previous alcohol and drug test within the previous year has produced a positive result.

 

Data protection and privacy

Alcohol and drug testing will be conducted in accordance with an impact assessment that BIBBEGAN has carried out to ensure that testing is necessary and proportionate. Testing is carried out to ensure the health and safety of workers and others.

All possible measures will be in put in place to ensure confidentiality of test results, and checks will take place to avoid any false results. Test results are processed in accordance with BIBBEGAN’s data protection policy specifically the processing of special categories of personal data. Access to test results is strictly limited to the people for whom it is necessary, such as the employee’s team leader and possibly occupational health. Unauthorised access to test results will be treated as a disciplinary matter and dealt with in accordance with BIBBEGAN’s disciplinary procedure.

BIBBEGAN has in place arrangements with the external alcohol and drug testing company to ensure that it has measures safely and securely to process employees’ test results.

Alcohol and drug testing will be carried out only by qualified and competent personnel from an external alcohol and drug testing company who will use accepted and reliable methods and ensure that tests are carried out with the least possible intrusion into employees’ privacy.

Test results are retained in accordance with BIBBEGAN’s data protection policy on processing special categories of personal data. Positive alcohol and drug test results are retained only long enough for them to be investigated and dealt with under BIBBEGAN’s disciplinary procedure. Negative tests are normally securely destroyed after three weeks.

Workers have a number of rights in relation to their data, including the right to make a subject access request and rights to have data rectified or erased in some circumstances. You can find further details of these rights and how to exercise them in BIBBEGAN’s data protection policy. If workers believe that BIBBEGAN has not complied with their data protection rights, they can complain to the Information Commissioner.

 

Complaints

If an employee has a complaint about the way in which an alcohol and drug test has been conducted, he/she can raise this informally with Georgia Aggrey or Andy Wall. If an employee prefers to raise a formal complaint, he/she should refer to BIBBEGAN’s grievance procedure.

 

Equal opportunities

In line with its equal opportunities and dignity at work policies, BIBBEGAN will take steps to ensure that this policy is not used in a discriminatory manner against any employee and that no individual is unfairly targeted. BIBBEGAN will take steps to ensure that employees’ dignity is respected at all times.

Should you require any further information, please contact us directly.

 

James Bibbey, Managing Director