SurfaceDetect vs. Urine Analysis, Blood Analysis and Hair Analysis

SurfaceDetect avoids many Human
Rights and Privacy concerns associated with
drug testing due to the fact that employees
themselves are not tested.

The standard types of drug testing currently in use in Saskatchewan include Urine Analysis, Blood Analysis and Hair Analysis.

Urine Analysis in particular can be prohibitively invasive due to the fact that to have a true “legitimate” sample, employees are forced through a process called an “observed pee” where the employee urinates while a technician observes them. This is done because there are many easy methods to falsify a urine test if the employee is not observed when the sample is given. While this approach may be largely effective at stopping the widespread abuse of the test, it is very intrusive to employees, the majority of whom are drug-free.

Blood Analysis requires the employee to provide a blood sample. The Courts in Canada have ruled that this is a significant intrusion on a person’s privacy, and that it can be done only under extraordinary circumstances.

Hair Analysis is far less intrusive then either urine or blood analysis as the sample is easily obtained from the employee with little discomfort (though this is dependent upon what type of drug is involved as different drugs show up in different types of body hair). The issue of verification is raised again as it is very easy to provide a false sample in this case.

SurfaceDetect is far more demonstrative of the presence of narcotics in the workplace. Unlike any other test, SurfaceDetect will also show the presence of a narcotics trafficker in the workplace. If a regular drug user or trafficker touches a surface and secretes some of the narcotic onto that surface, the bio-sensor will detect it on that surface immediately.

SurfaceDetect avoids many of the Human Rights and Privacy issues associated with drug testing due to the fact that employees themselves are not tested. Instead, tests are conducted on surfaces that many employees come into contact with. More importantly, only “company-owned” surfaces are tested such as keyboards, lockers and desks to detect these nanogram-sized particles of illegal narcotics.

In cases where all Human Rights and other legal requirements have been met, such as a case involving someone in a ”safety-sensitive” position, an employee may be asked to submit to a drug test. In this case we would utilize the Pre-Screen 5 tool, which inflicts the lowest invasiveness of any test. The test can be conducted immediately, in the privacy of an office and involves only “wiping” the Pre-Screen 5 bio-sensor across the employee’s forehead, palm and fingertips.

Legal authorization is required before tests can be conducted.