The workplace has become more flexible and more demanding in the 21st century. People work under high-risk conditions in construction sites, or face long hours on the road, in the air, or the sea in logistics. As a result, delivering top results and staying competitive is paramount, but the pressure to do so can sometimes be too much and cause lapses in judgment, resulting in substance abuse.
Because of this, drug testing for different businesses is on the rise, and it means that a career as a drug testing technician is one with a lot of growth and opportunity.
The First Point Of Contact
Drug testing can now take place for a variety of substances, often from a single sample. While a breath sample is still sufficient for alcohol, urine, saliva, or even hair are other biological samples suitable for collection for drug testing. However, the results of any drug test are only as good as the samples that are being worked with, which is why drug test technicians—especially for sample collection—are essential.
As the first point of contact before actual testing, the drug testing technician must ensure that a sample is in the required condition to get a good result. This is as much about getting a quality sample as it is about security. Unfortunately, some people try to counterfeit results on a drug test by falsifying samples. It’s the job of the drug testing technician, on the frontline, to neutralize these attempts and ensure an honest test.
Training Is Critical
To ensure that a good, uncontaminated sample is collected for testing, knowledge of proper collection and equipment usage is required. However, additional knowledge about security measures is also important. Unfortunately, since getting a job—or keeping one—is contingent on passing a drug test, cheating results is an ever-present risk.
It’s important that the training for drug testing technicians is not just about efficiently acquiring a viable sample for testing, but doing so in a way that ensures no tampering or cheating was involved. This is where additional safety measures, such as securing a urine sample collection room ahead of time and enabling tamper-proof mechanisms, for example, are part of the job.
A range of skills is required for technicians from urine collection to DOT-approved breath sample collection procedures. With the emphasis on safer, more efficient workplaces, there’s always a need for skilled workers that can administer drug tests.
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