Masterson Holdings Ltd, the construction group turning over circa £150 million per annum, is deploying a revolutionary fingerprint drug testing system across its four operating companies. The Intelligent Fingerprinting test detects drug use in around 10 minutes by collecting and analysing tiny traces of fingerprint sweat, and will be used to support the random drug testing of all Masterson Holdings employees from directors to labourers. The fingerprint drug testing system will be used to enforce contractual drug usage policy adherence required by major contractors on construction projects, encourage employee health and safety and also as a fundamental element of the company’s ‘fitness for work’ and proactive employee wellbeing initiatives. Masterson Holdings selected the fingerprint method ahead of urine and saliva tests as Intelligent Fingerprinting’s portable solution enables on-site drug tests at its construction sites. The process can be carried out in-house by HR staff, with results available on site in 10 minutes. The ability to manage the initial test in-house is not only a major operational benefit for Masterson, but also supports the company’s wellbeing policy. Masterson is committed to offering support to any employees who may have a drug usage problem, providing them with a range of support options through their HR function. Masterson will use the fingerprint drug test across its operating companies: GetJar, the concrete frame and groundwork specialist; its Atlantic Contracts carpentry and joinery business, and Glencoe Plant Services that provides plant hire & construction services. Andrew Chowings, Group SHEQ Director of GetJar said: “As a contractor, we have a drug usage Health and Safety Policy for our employees’ on-site safety, and adopting the Intelligent Fingerprinting solution allows us to carry out tests quickly, easily and more unobtrusively when compared to urine tests for example. However, as a reputable family business, we wanted to go a step further. Instead of relying on external parties to fulfil our drug testing, we can now bring the function in-house, proactively introducing drug testing as part of our employee wellbeing initiatives. There are, of course, urine and saliva drug tests on the market but the fingerprint method fitted the bill for us as we are able to test our employees ourselves – at a random time to suit us, with rapid on-site results. It is also extremely quick and ‘clean’ with no unhygienic bodily fluids used as part of the process. “As part of a broader employee wellbeing initiative, we have also introduced random drug testing for all our employees, from directors to labourers. The programme has been in play for a few months now and the response from our employees has been extremely positive – we’ve even had volunteers as they are intrigued by the innovative fingerprint-based testing technology. We’ve now adopted Intelligent Fingerprinting into our health and safety and wellbeing policies, and randomly test a part of the business every 12 weeks,” he continued. Intelligent Fingerprinting’s drug testing solution features a small, tamper-evident drug screening cartridge onto which ten fingerprint sweat samples are collected, in a process which takes less than a minute. The Intelligent Fingerprinting portable analysis unit then reads the cartridge and provides a positive or negative result on-screen for all drugs in the test in ten minutes.

Regeneration and energy specialist, ENGIE, has been appointed to deliver a variety of regeneration programmes by Sunderland-based housing association, Gentoo Group. As part of the Group’s wider £317m investment programme across its 29,000 home portfolio, the scope of the varied £16m work will include a variety of modernisation and safety improvement work across a number of Gentoo buildings, as well as the installation of new gas- condensing, energy-efficient combination boilers and associated works to 1,000 properties in Washington as part of a district heating upgrade. Lee Francis, Area Director at ENGIE, said: “Resident welfare is at the core of all these projects and it is important that all households feel safe and secure in their homes. “We have a skilled team and vast experience in regeneration, which is further enhanced by our fantastic partnership with Gentoo. We have demonstrated our extensive abilities, with a number of projects already being delivered by us on Gentoo’s behalf. We’re currently re-roofing properties and repairing gable walls across thousands of properties in Houghton le Spring and Sunderland, whilst also installing Ground Source Heat Pumps, an innovative source of renewable energy, to seven tower blocks in Sunderland.” Conan McKinley, Director of Asset Strategy at Gentoo, said: “We’re really pleased to continue our partnership with ENGIE and look forward to seeing the successful delivery of some really key projects over the coming months.” All three of the newly awarded projects will be managed separately, but all work will be completed with residents in occupation and ENGIE will work openly and closely with Gentoo customers throughout the duration of the projects to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum. Several consultation meetings and coffee mornings will be scheduled for those who are affected by these programmes of works; while dedicated Resident Liaison Officers will also be on hand at all times.