Screenings - Drugs and Alcohol

Occupational health experts in the Sutter Health network provide drug and alcohol screening for current and prospective employees, helping you promote a safe and productive work environment.

Testing and screening can save you time and money. It increases the odds that the person you hire is responsible and ready to perform their duties in a safe and productive manner. Here are some facts about the type of screening tests used in the Sutter Health network. We encourage you to share this information with your employees.

Alcohol Testing: What to Expect

An alcohol breath test measures the alcohol content of your exhaled breath, which accurately reflects the alcohol content in the blood. Occupational health professionals use two methods for alcohol tests, electronic or manual. One type of manual test contains a balloon and a glass tube with crystals. You blow into the device, and the crystals change color in response to alcohol in your breath. An electronic meter device can measure alcohol in breath and show your blood alcohol content in a digital display.

Each person's response to alcohol varies. An alcohol breath test can let you know how much alcohol it takes to raise your blood-alcohol level to a dangerous level.

Drug Screening: What to Expect

A urine drug screening test can be used to detect the presence of illegal and some prescription drugs in your urine. Their presence indicates that you recently used these drugs. Some drugs may remain in your system for several weeks, so the drug test needs to be interpreted carefully.

This test requires a urine sample, which is sent to a lab for evaluation. The results are reported as positive or negative for the presence of drugs.