The construction industry will now benefit from a simple, end-to-end drug testing solution based on fingerprint sweat analysis. Intelligent Fingerprint is bringing new levels of convenience, hygiene, and speed to employee drug testing.

The new system features an initial screening test that works by analysing sweat from a fingerprint to determine if an employee has recently used cocaine, opiates, amphetamines or cannabis. Sample collection takes only five seconds, with simultaneous screening results for all four drug groups provided in just eight minutes.

If an employee tests positive, then the tester would use the Intelligent Fingerprinting’s Fingerprint Collection Kit for Laboratory Analysis to collect samples for a confirmation test. The Kit contains everything required to securely send the collected samples to the testing laboratory, including a tamper-evident security bag, barcodes to maintain anonymous sample identity and a postage-paid returns envelope.

“Under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, construction firms have a duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of their staff, so an effective employee drug screening and testing service should be a critical element of any workplace drug policy,” said Dr Paul Yates from Intelligent Fingerprinting.

He also suggested that a laboratory confirmation test should always be carried out in the case of someone testing positive. The laboratory will then provide the customer with a quantitative laboratory result in the form of a Certificate of Analysis.

“With our non-invasive system, which combines the portable reader with the simple one-touch drug screening cartridge, and the unequivocal results offered with our Fingerprint Collection Kit for Laboratory Analysis, construction firms can enjoy all the benefits of fingerprint-based drug testing and be confident about the end-to-end reliability of their process,” added Dr Yates.

Intelligent Fingerprinting’s portable Drug Screening System was launched in August 2017 and it is a non-invasive, fast and cost-effective system that screens for multiple drug groups simultaneously (currently amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine and opiates), with sample collection taking 5 seconds and results in minutes.