About Breath Testing At Work

Workplace breath testing for drugs may be required as part of a person’s employment contract. This testing can be conducted in a number of situations including before employment begins, during working hours if it is reasonably suspected a person is impaired, at random times or after an accident or other incident has occurred. Before a test takes place the person conducting the test must ask the employee whether they are taking any medication or pain relief drugs that could affect the test results and take this into account.

Employees usually have the right to challenge the results of such testing since it can result in significant financial, reputational or employment repercussions for them. A person needs to be able to confirm that a test was carried out correctly by a suitably qualified person and that other factors did not affect the results.