FAQ

An alcohol ignition interlock is a breathalyser which is wired into the ignition of your car. The breathalyser requires a breath sample before you start your car.

If the test is passed the vehicle will start.

If there is alcohol in the breath sample the vehicle will not start.

For more information visit our interlock website www.smartstartinterlocks.co.nz

This varies greatly from person to person, depending on weight, age, how much food has been eaten, how fast your body metabolises alcohol, stress levels etc.

The only true way to check if you are legal to drive is to test yourself on an accurate breathalyser.

The LifeGuard breathalyser is ideal for this.

We recommend calibration of your breathalyser every 6-12 months depending on usage.

Lifeguard Personal testing - 12 monthly

SC5000 Pro Personal testing - 6 monthly

FC10 Workplace Testing - 6 monthly

FC10 Non-workplace Testing - 12 monthly

Calibration ensures your breathalyser is reading accurately, giving you readings you can trust.

The lower alcohol limit will affect most workplaces.

You may need to revise your policy and adjust your workplace alcohol limit if it is not already zero.

Call us on 0800 700 777.  We can talk you through the process step by step.

We also provide free onsite workplace training, and free training materials.

Yes, for urine drug testing this is AS/NZS 4308:2008.

The alcohol breath testing device Standard is AS 3547:2000.

These can be downloaded from Standards New Zealand (www.standards.co.nz).

At this stage New Zealand does not have a Standard for saliva drug testing.

At Sober Check we highly recommend you do this.

You are obligated to provide a safe working environment for all staff, and if any of your staff use synthetic cannabis you need to know about it, as they may be a safety risk.

Testing for synthetic cannabis also sends a message to your workforce that you will not tolerate drug taking of any sort.

1. Ensure you have a drug and alcohol testing clause in your employment contract.

2. Have a drug and alcohol policy to determine procedures.

3. If you decide to do the testing yourself, you will need to gain certification of the two Unit Standards required as set out in AS/NZ 4308:2008 Procedures for Specimen Collection and the Detection and Quantitation of Drugs of Abuse in Urine. We can organise getting you booked into one of these courses.

• Unit Standard 25458 Perform urine specimen collection in the workplace for drug testing and
• Unit Standard 25511 Perform urine drug screening in the workplace.

You are now ready to start testing!

Alternatively you can use an independent testing agency to do your drug and alcohol testing. Sober Check can recommend qualified and experienced on-site collectors.  For more information call us on 0800 700 777.

Adulterants are additives that are used to try to cheat a drug test if there are drugs in a person’s system.

If the temperature strip on the urine drug cup is read, along with the adulterant panel before results are interpreted, you can almost always pick up attempted adulteration.

The cut-off level defines the test as a positive (non-negative) or a negative.

All urine drug cups that are verified to Appendix B of AS/NZS 4308:2008 test for the following 6 drugs:

Cannabis – 50ng/mL

Opiates – 300ng/mL

Amphetamine – 300ng/mL

Methamphetamine – 300ng/mL

Benzodiazepines – 200ng/mL

Cocaine – 300ng/mL

Adulteration is when an attempt is made to change a urine sample provided for a drug test. Adulterating urine drug tests can occur in three ways: dilution, substitution, or interference.

When running a test, ensure you check the adulteration panel before reading the drug test results.  If the sample is adulterated you will need to collect another sample.

The main difference is drug detection times.

Urine drug testing picks up a much longer window of detection. This is especially useful for pre-employment.

Urine drug testing is the most accurate and cost effective way to ensure you have a safe working environment.

Saliva testing shows a much shorter detection time on drugs, particularly cannabis. Depending on drug usage, saliva may only detect drug use withinthe past 2-4 hours.

Saliva drug testing is most useful for picking up recent use and impairment.

The drink drive limit for those under 20 years of age is zero.

For those over 20 years the limit is 250 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

Any of the FC Series breathalysers are suitable for workplace testing.

The most popular one in NZ is the Lifeloc FC10 breathalyser.

Call us on 0800 700 777 with your testing requirements and we can recommend the best option for you.

Depending on how many tests you plan to do, or how many other people you intend to test we have 2 great options -

The LifeGuard unit:-  This unit uses the same fuel sell sensor technology as the police grade units.  It gives accurate and reliable digital readings of your alcohol level, and also graphs your last 3 test results so you can see if your level is rising or falling.

The Lifeloc FC10 unit:-  This is a very high end unit which is used by the Police in most states in the USA.  It has very fast reaction times, and is suitable for large amounts of testing.

The temperature strip ensures that the urine is at body temperature, and has been provided by your specified donor.

This is the first thing you should check after you have taken a urine sample.

Depending on your industry, you will have different requirements for your employee drug testing programme.

We would recommend the following:

RANDOM DRUG TESTING – this involves testing all of your employees on a random day, or a randomly selected group of employees.

PRE-EMPLOYMENT DRUG TESTING – this involves testing all potential employees before employment. This greatly decreases the chances of hiring someone who is currently a drug or alcohol user.

REASONABLE CAUSE DRUG TESTING – this involves testing employees who you have reasonable suspicion of being unfit for duties. This protects the safety of your workplace.

POST-INCIDENT DRUG TESTING – this involves testing employees who have been involved in an accident or nearmiss to help determine if drug or alcohol use was a factor.

RETURN TO WORK DRUG TESTING – this involves testing employees before they return to work after a positive test or as periodical follow-up to ensure that they have stopped abusing drugs or alcohol.

PRE-PROMOTION DRUG TESTING – this involves testing employees before promoting them to ensure that you are not promoting someone who may have an alcohol or drug problem.

As an employer you have an obligation to ensure a safe working environment for your employees.

If your workforce is drug & alcohol free you will also have much greater productivity.