Testing for alcohol in the breath is the preferred option for most workplace drug and alcohol testing purposes.
ESR is able to test for alcohol in urine but there are no defined cut off levels for alcohol in urine in AS/NZS 4308:2001. Furthermore, the presence of alcohol in the urine does not necessarily mean that alcohol is present in the blood; it just means that alcohol has been consumed some time before urine sampling. In some situations, alcohol can be detected in the urine several hours after it has been removed from the blood and more than 20 hours after drinking has stopped.
Breath alcohol testing devices
A range of reliable breath alcohol testing devices are now available to provide an on the spot reading of the level of alcohol in an employee's breath. With proper breath sampling, the breath alcohol level will usually reflect the level of alcohol in the person's blood at the time of breath sampling.
The device used should comply with the Australian Standard AS 3547 - 1997, type 2 "Breath alcohol testing devices for personal use." ESR is able to supply a breath testing device which complies with the standard and is suitable for use in a workplace.
Hair testing for alcohol
ESR can test hair to levels which show chonic long-term abuse.
Legal breath alcohol limits
Under the current Land Transport legislation, the legal breath alcohol limits are 400 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath for people 20 years of age and over, and 150 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath for people under 20 years of age. The same limits are written into some Workplace Drug and Alcohol Policies.
Other workplaces have a zero tolerance policy. However, alcohol is present in small amounts in a number of foods, soft-drinks and medicines. Small amounts may also be generated within the body. Furthermore, no measuring device can be 100% accurate. Therefore, it is recommended that a cut off level of at least 100 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath is used where a zero tolerance policy is in place.
If an accurate measure of the blood alcohol level is required, there is no alternative to taking a blood sample and having it analysed using a method of the type used in ESR's blood alcohol analysis unit. This unit routinely performs blood alcohol analysis for forensic purposes.
Alcohol testing brochure
Alcohol in the workplace brochure (pdf, 2MB)