Industry Trends at the IFDAT 2017

DISA Global Solutions, a TPA with more than 30 years of experience in the drug and alcohol testing industry, aims to expand and share our knowledge by attending and participating in numerous conferences throughout the year. At our most recent conference, IFDAT 2017, Michael Abreu helped present what DISA Global Solutions is seeing in the industry.

IFDAT is the International Forum for Drug & Alcohol Testing, which holds an annual event for professionals and industry experts to gather and share new and relevant information. This international community is an excellent opportunity for DISA to inspire and educate others about what we do to help create safe working environments. Along with our presentation, this year’s topics ranged anywhere from the legalization of marijuana (what to do and how to test for it) to DATIA and NASAP changes, positivity rates for specific drugs, oral fluid positivity rates and detection windows, and more.

Michael Abreu has been with DISA Global Solutions as an Energy Sales Manager for over 2 years and has years of experience in the onboarding process for drug and background checks, as well as occupational health programs in the oil and gas industry. He presented data from a survey with more than 100 owners from energy companies within the U.S. This information was used to dive deeper into understanding the complete process of what owners do for contractor companies, how they accomplish on-site collections and quick tests, and which challenges they face throughout the process.

Based on DISA’s survey conducted prior to the IFDAT event, the owner/operator’s main areas of concern are synthetic drug usage, growing prescription usage, and an overall failure to catch drug usage. Using survey data, DISA’s specialists can modify and suggest the right drug, background, and compliance screenings as well as procedures to address owner and operator concerns.

At this year’s conference, Michael heard from many TPAs that synthetic testing is becoming more prevalent despite a low positivity rate, according to our data. Another thing to consider is for many owners and operators, the combination of oral fluid and hair testing is becoming the preferred method of drug screening. Oral fluid goes back 0-48 hours, while hair testing can test back up to 90 days. Each method has unique advantages, and all of them are scientifically sound. By utilizing these two tests together, customers can catch a higher percentage of job applicants before they become full-time employees.

For more information or to begin setting up drug and background checks with DISA Global Solutions, contact one of our industry experts today to get you started!

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