Discover the broad spectrum of drug and alcohol testing to create a safe and healthy environment.
The wide availability and easy access to drugs and alcohol has changed its use over the recent years, creating a greater need for companies and organisations to implement drug and alcohol testing programmes in order to achieve a safe, healthy and productive workplace.
Throughout 2021, Abbott is hosting the Comprehensive Answers Webinars Series which focuses on important aspects of Toxicology and aims to bring industry experts together. Throughout each educational webinar, experts from around the world share their experiences of implementing drug testing programmes within a variety of environments such as in the workplace or at the roadside.
During the live webinars attendees are able to engage with the speaker in an open Q&A session and participate in the webinar via polls and surveys. Additionally, all webinars are available on-demand allowing attendees to watch the webinar at any time. The Comprehensive Answers Webinar portal provides access to key resources and guidelines, which are relevant to a variety of drug testing programmes.
In April 2021, Professor Adam Winstock, founder of the Global Drug Survey (GDS), presented recent findings from the 2020 GDS including a speciality report on how drug use has changed throughout the past year.
Founded in 2011, the GDS has become the largest drug survey in the world, with participants from over 30 countries. The shared experiences of people who use alcohol and drugs, can be used to estimate prevalence and trends of drug use, help identify new drugs and in addition assist in creating better drug policy. Finally, during the focus on the speciality report, Professor Winstock highlighted the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the use of drugs and alcohol worldwide and the importance of this data when considering implementing return to work drug testing programmes.
The approach to global workplace drug testing was discussed in another event with speakers from the UK and South Africa exchanging their experiences. Gareth Mullen (Head of Safety, Health and Wellbeing, Thames Water, UK) shared the company’s journey to a drink and drug free environment – including their approach to provide educational resources for both workers and managers, as well as the opportunity to interact with occupational health providers if needed. Joining Gareth was Rhys Evans (Managing Director, Alco-Safe, South Africa) who discussed the impact of routine drug testing in private companies in South Africa. Both speakers focused on highlighting the challenges, processes and successes of creating a successful workplace drug testing programme.
All of the events in the Abbott Comprehensive Answers Webinar Series – including upcoming and on-demand webinars – are available for registration on toxicology.abbott/webinar now.
Visit toxicology.abbott/webinar to watch any of above webinars, subscribe to the series and explore additional webinars and content available.
