Weber UK pioneers fingerprint drug testing for construction giant Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland

Weber UK pioneers fingerprint drug testing for construction giant Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland

• Weber introduces non-invasive in-house fingerprint drug testing – sees Intelligent Fingerprinting solution as ‘a huge step forward’
• Drug and alcohol screening phased in by Weber following Occupational Health amnesty period to help adherence to substance misuse policy and company-wide safety

Weber – a leading player in the construction products industry – is to pioneer the use of Intelligent Fingerprinting drug testing within the Saint-Gobain group – one of the world’s largest industrial groups. With an international annual turnover of €43.1 billion and 193,000 employees worldwide, Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland traditionally uses urine drug testing to assist with its health and safety operations. For the first time, group company Weber is to deploy the innovative fingerprint drug testing system from Intelligent Fingerprinting, which simply uses sweat from fingerprints to screen for recent use of cocaine, methamphetamine, cannabis and opiates.

Craig Jones, HR Business Partner at Weber, said: “At Weber, we care about our colleagues and the environment in which they work. We wanted to introduce drug testing – it was one of the few Saint-Gobain subsidiaries that hadn’t yet introduced screening to encourage adherence to the company substance misuse policy. While the team recognised the importance of drug testing to help prevent accidents at work, there was a reluctance to roll-out traditional urine tests. They are invasive, sometimes embarrassing for the person being tested as well as for the Company representative having to supervise and process the test. The management team decided to look for something better than urine tests – and we found it! Intelligent Fingerprinting’s test is really easy to use for both the HR team and for the employees being tested. I’ve been an active member of facilitating urine testing at other Saint-Gobain subsidiaries and, in comparison, the Intelligent Fingerprinting method is a huge step forward. The fingerprint drug testing method is clean, hygienic, non-invasive and fast.

“In practical terms, each test will only take around ten minutes – from the sample being taken to on-site results. We’ve already trained five colleagues with the Intelligent Fingerprinting system – two in HR and three Site Managers – conveniently via Teams, within an hour” Craig Jones continues. “This means we can now drug test across our three main sites whenever we need to – Flitwick, Telford, and Ballyclare in Northern Ireland. It is highly convenient and Covid-safe and, with simple virtual training, existing employees can be up and running with the system very quickly, using it for random, for cause or post-incident drug screening. We are introducing fingerprint drug testing at Weber following a three-month amnesty period where we have offered to work with any employees who feel they have drug or alcohol issues and provide Occupational Health support services.”

Philip Hand, Executive Chairman at Intelligent Fingerprinting added: “Adoption of fingerprint drug testing is gathering pace as companies – large and small – realise they just don’t need to deal with messy and unhygienic urine tests anymore. Intelligent Fingerprinting is a great alternative to fulfil Health and Safety drug testing needs, and it is compelling that companies such as Saint-Gobain subsidiary, Weber, see fingerprint drug testing as a modern solution to their workplace drug testing requirements.”

Fingerprint-based drug testing – how it works
Intelligent Fingerprinting’s drug testing system features a small, tamper-evident drug screening cartridge onto which ten fingerprint sweat samples are collected, in a process which takes less than a minute. The Intelligent Fingerprinting portable analysis unit then reads the cartridge and provides a positive or negative result on-screen for all drugs in the test in ten minutes.

An introductory video demonstrating fingerprint-based drug testing in action is available here.

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For media information contact Cheryl Billson at Comma
Email: cheryl.billson@commacomms.com  Tel: +44 (0)7791 720460

About Intelligent Fingerprinting

Intelligent Fingerprinting is a leading provider of fast, innovative and cost-effective point-of-care diagnostic solutions – including a portable Drug Screening System that works by analysing fingerprint sweat, and easy-to-use saliva-based COVID-19 lateral flow tests. The company has distributors across the globe, including the USA. Founded in 2007, Intelligent Fingerprinting is a spin-out company from the University of East Anglia (UEA). The company is based in Cambridge, England and employs around 40 people.
www.intelligentfingerprinting.com Twitter @iFingerprinting

About Weber Saint-Gobain

Weber is part of Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s leading industrial groups with activities in construction products, flat glass and packaging, high performance materials and building distribution. Saint-Gobain is an international group employing around 193,000 people in over 64 countries worldwide. Established in France in 1665, Saint-Gobain is one of the world’s largest industrial groups, with an annual turnover of €43.1 billion.

Weber specialise in the manufacture of industrial mortar products including renders and decorative finishes, tile fixing products, floor screeds, technical mortars and external wall insulation systems. Due to their expertise of industrial mortars, Weber offer a complete solution including services which complement their products such as technical support and training.
www.uk.weber