Hayfield uses fingerprint technology to screen for recent drug use across its construction sites, supporting health and safety
The Intelligent Fingerprinting drug testing technology allows the Hayfield Health and Safety team to carry out drug testing on site on its construction workers and contractors.
The system works by analysing sweat from fingerprints for the recent use of drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, opiates, and methamphetamine.
The test features a small, tamper-evident drug screening cartridge that allows ten fingerprint sweat samples to be collected in less than a minute.
It then reads the cartridge and provides a positive or negative result on-screen within ten minutes.
Identify potential drug misuse
Hayfield’s Head of Health and Safety, Andy Green, said: “We were keen to start drug testing but also wanted to be able to carry out the testing process in-house. When looking at solutions on the market we were particularly impressed by the flexibility and accuracy of the Intelligent Fingerprinting approach.
“The system’s portability means that we can now test at any of our sites, while its short window of detection ensures that we’re able to concentrate on identifying potential drug misuse in the period immediately before the test – and when it is most likely to affect employee performance.”
Resolve drug use problems
Dr Paul Yates from Intelligent Fingerprinting, said: “Hayfield joins a growing number of UK construction firms that find fingerprint-based testing a great way of supporting their health and safety initiatives. By owning the system and being able to test in-house Hayfield has the opportunity to pro-actively test across its operations, and means they can move quickly to identify and help resolve any potential drug use problems.
“Safety is clearly paramount for homebuilders, with employees operating heavy plant machinery on site and working at height, so it’s essential that companies such as Hayfield do everything they can to maximise safety and reduce risk.”
Green added: “The tests are easy to conduct, and we have been able to train our team remotely as there’s no specific medical training needed. We now have a system in place that we can manage ourselves, and scale to support our expanding homebuilding activities.”
