The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 came into force in September 2005 and contained two provisions. Section 13 (1) b required employers to remove an employee from their place of work, who reported for work under the influence of an intoxicant (defined as drugs and alcohol). Section 13 (1) c contained proposals for employee intoxicant testing which would require regulations before this section could be implemented. The Irish Government decided that no regulations would be developed.

This resulted in an anomaly in the legislation and confusion amongst employers. It was against this background that the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) Institute developed the concept of an expert group on workplace drugs and alcohol who would put forward clear drug testing guidelines and experiences on all aspects of intoxicant testing for Occupational Health Specialists, EHS Managers, HR professionals and EAP practitioners.

Duncan Carmichael, one of the speakers, explains: “The new EWDTS guidelines for oral fluid, hair and urine were approved by the board for publication on November 1st 2015. The guidelines sought to harmonise and standardise drug test panels and collection and laboratory procedures throughout Europe.”

Additional speakers will include Maurice Quinlan, director of the EAP Institute who will outline employer’s health and safety obligations on workplace intoxicants, Eilis Barry, Barrister at Law who will present on reasonable accommodation, Duncan Carmichael who will outline the European Workplace Drug Testing Society guidelines on drug testing and Mike Doyle, Country Manager (Ireland), Alere Toxicology, presenting on the Irish experience of drug testing.