Huntingdonshire District Council is the first UK council to use an innovative fingerprint-based drug test to support its frontline services. The council is using the Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Screening System as part of its recruitment process. Thanks to the fingerprint system’s ease-of-use and ability to deliver test results in ten minutes, council managers are now able to carry out their own drug screening tests before candidates are offered permanent or temporary positions, instead of relying on an external agency to do this.

The council is using the system to help ensure that all its frontline safety-critical service staff, including refuse collection drivers of 26 tonne lorries, ground teams, and street maintenance staff working in busy traffic, are all working safely – and protecting themselves, their colleagues and the public.

Huntingdonshire District Council has used drug testing to support its drug and alcohol policy for some time, but has now replaced the previous urine-based testing service provided by an external agency with the Intelligent Fingerprinting portable testing system that is managed in-house. It has been very positively received by both candidates and testers thanks to its hygienic, non-invasive approach – which enables social distancing when testing – as well as its ability to provide on-site test results in around ten minutes.

The Intelligent Fingerprinting drug testing system is already saving Huntingdonshire District Council time and money while delivering a superior on-site service for their drug testing needs. Immediate efficiency savings include being able to carry out testing quickly and easily in the office and no longer needing to cordon off bathrooms to dedicate their use to urine testing. Intelligent Fingerprinting is also providing the council with alcohol breathalysers as part of its one-stop service for drug and alcohol testing.

Andrew Rogan, Operations Manager, Huntingdonshire District Council says:

“We are using the Intelligent Fingerprinting system to test all new permanent employees or agency staff for frontline services. These employees work in safety-critical roles, often work around machinery, and in a constantly changing environment so it is critical that they are alert and fit for duty. The fingerprint drug screening system is fantastic as it’s saving the council a huge amount of time and cost as we’re now able to conduct the tests in-house rather than using an external provider. Having the system available for use whenever it’s needed also gives us the flexibility to carry out tests at other times too, such as ‘for cause’ testing if we have reason to suspect drug use by an existing employee.

“We are finding the fingerprint system is giving us much greater control over our drug testing, and its efficiency is helping us to unlock immediate savings for the council,” added Andrew Rogan. “Thanks to the Intelligent Fingerprinting approach we have been able to implement remote training for our managers so they can carry out the testing themselves, and we’re confident in the results as the test is virtually impossible to tamper with.”

For the full Huntingdonshire District Council case study, please click here.

Masterson Holdings Ltd, the construction group turning over circa £150 million per annum, is deploying fingerprint drug testing across its four operating companies. The Intelligent Fingerprinting test will support the random drug testing of all Masterson Holdings employees from directors to labourers. The 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 says:

“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.”

CAIS, a leading rehab and recovery charity, is using fingerprint-based drug testing from Intelligent Fingerprinting to support recovery at its Parkland Place clinic in North Wales. According to CAIS, testing with the Intelligent Fingerprinting portable drug test is quick, hygienic and dignified – making it an ideal point-of-care solution for use at its residential facilities.

CAIS is focused on helping people to recover from addiction and rebuild normal, productive lifestyles. The personal support charity has deployed fingerprint drug testing at its new Parkland Place luxury residential rehabilitation centre on the edge of Old Colwyn in North Wales. Regular drug testing is carried out to monitor clients’ progress towards recovery.

In contrast with traditional testing procedures involving saliva or urine, fingerprint sample collection is more dignified, hygienic and quick. All Parkland Place clients need to do is provide fingerprint sweat samples onto the Intelligent Fingerprinting drug screening cartridge, which can be collected and analysed on-site during one of their regular meetings. Sample collection takes seconds, with drug screening results available in just ten minutes for discussion there and then with the client.

In contrast with traditional drug testing procedures involving saliva or urine, fingerprint sample collection takes only a few seconds and proves more dignified and hygienic for both Parkland Place guests and staff. As well as significantly speeding up the process of testing for people in detox and rehab, fingerprint drug testing is also more convenient and cost-effective as there is no need for specialist collection or biohazardous waste disposal facilities.

Clive Wolfendale, CAIS Chief Executive says:

“Our highly qualified teams work closely with each guest to understand their individual needs and provide the strongest chance of recovery. While drug testing is an important part of our dedicated detox services, we’re always keen at CAIS to ensure a safe and empathetic environment. The Intelligent Fingerprinting test method ensures that we can screen our guests in a dignified and hygienic way.

“CAIS facilities – such as our new Parkland Place luxury residential centre – set the standard for the provision of best practice rehabilitation services, and we’re committed to supporting our detox and rehabilitation programmes with innovative solutions like the Intelligent Fingerprinting drug test which improve our service.”

Precision Stevedores – the flexible labour and training provider for ports and port-centric businesses – has selected the innovative Intelligent Fingerprinting drug testing solution to help support its active employee drug policy at leading UK ports. Precision Stevedores will initially use Intelligent Fingerprinting’s system for rapid pre-employment drug screens and monthly random tests for its outsourced workforce across the entire Humber and Trent port area. This is the first time that the easy-to-use fingerprint drug test is being used at UK ports, and is part of a drive to promote safe operations across Precision Stevedores’ business.

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 screen all new Precision Stevedores employees as part of the recruitment process. In addition, the fingerprint test will be used for random drug testing of employees to encourage site safety, and for post-incident and for cause testing, replacing the company’s previous urine test method that was unpleasant to handle and intrusive for the employee.

Philip Crawford, Health and Safety Manager at Precision Stevedores says:

“As a recruitment and workforce provider for the high-risk ports and shipping sector, it is paramount that we ensure the safety of our employees and their on-site colleagues. Therefore, we have adopted Intelligent Fingerprinting’s innovative technology as part of our active drug testing policy. The process can be carried out on-site and inhouse by our HR staff, providing results in 10 minutes and an immediate insight into fitness for duty. In contrast to our old method of urine testing that was unpleasant for our staff to handle and intrusive for employees being tested, the new hygienic fingerprint method is a major step forward for testers and employees alike.

“At Precision Stevedores our aim is to offer the very best services in our field and – as our people are our most important asset – their safety is at the forefront of everything we do. As an innovative company, we’re pleased to adopt the Intelligent Fingerprinting solution which will help us to lead the way in shipping industry drug safety, and we’re delighted to be the first to be using the test at UK ports. Our Managing Director, John Daniels, and I were immediately very impressed by the Intelligent Fingerprinting technology during initial demonstrations and, considering the strong benefits of convenience, time savings and non-invasiveness alongside the innovation, the decision to invest and adopt the product was an easy one to make. We have had conversations with other organisations within our group and industry who are already showing a keen interest in adopting the impressive fingerprint drug testing method themselves, so we are expecting the fingerprint sweat test approach to catch on quickly.”

Part of the Wilco Group, the largest civil and landscape development group in Western Canada, has adopted the Intelligent Fingerprinting Drug Test to use in its recruitment process. The HR team at Wilco Contractors Southwest Inc’s headquarters in Calgary is using the fingerprint-based drug screening system, that works by collecting and analysing tiny traces of sweat from a fingerprint to detect drugs, to assess fitness for work in the construction sector.

The rapid, non-invasive fingerprint method replaces a traditional off-site urine test approach. Together with operational and efficiency savings resulting from Intelligent Fingerprinting’s 10-minute test, the switch to the fingerprint method is set to save Wilco Southwest $20-25,000 CAD annually.

As part of Wilco Southwest’s commitment to workforce health and safety, all new employees who are set to operate construction heavy plant vehicles, truck operators or labourers who are working in these environments are required to take a drug test as part of their interview process. Previously, candidates were asked to visit a third party off-site location within 48 hours of the interview to provide a urine sample.

Dan Maat, Vice President of Wilco Contractors Southwest Inc says:

“We recruit up to 500 new employees annually who work in quite high risk environments, so we want to ensure from the outset that our employees are safe and fit to work. As part of this, we routinely drug test as part of our recruitment process. We were attracted to the fingerprint method as we can now test in-house, and gain access to results within minutes during the interview process. We’ve also found that interviewees are much happier to provide a fingerprint sweat sample compared to our previous intrusive urine test approach. From a process and operational perspective, we have also projected that the adoption of fingerprint drug testing is set to save us between $20-25,000 CAD in the first year alone.

“This saving is not only due to the cost-effectiveness of the fingerprint method, but also thanks to savings from optimising our recruitment process and increasing the percentage of candidates offered a position who accept our employment. Previously we found that we lost candidates and money due to the urine test taking 24-48 hours post-interview. We were having to pay for many booked appointments where the candidate failed to turn up – either where the candidate was put off by the urine test or, in that one to two day period, they were offered alternative positions. Our HR manager is now managing the drug tests himself during the interview process – eliminating the need for an external party and enabling job offers to be made there and then.”