What is Impairment Detection Technology (IDT)?
With the decriminalization and legalization of drugs happening at a breakneck pace, you may have heard about Impairment Detection Technology. While the term may seem straightforward, it differs from traditional drug testing and what all this means for employers may not be entirely clear. Let’s dive in.
What is Impairment Detection Technology (IDT)?
Impairment Detection Technology (IDT) is any technology product that can detect active impairment in a human. It differs from drug testing because drug tests look for the chemical markers of drug usage in the body, but cannot detect impairment (with the exception of alcohol).
The National Safety Council defines IDT as “technology with the potential to screen for multiple forms of impairment in order to aid in fitness for work assessments.” This impairment can be from drugs, fatigue, prescription medication, or any other reason and depending on the IDT product, it may, or may not be able to distinguish between them. This technology is needed because a worker may be impaired for non-drug reasons, and still pose a significant safety hazard to their fellow workers. For example, if someone is an insomniac, but works as a forklift driver, they may not be a safe operator due to lack of sleep. Traditional chemical drug tests would not detect this impairment, but IDT could.
Similarly, drug impairment clearly presents a significant safety risk, but for some drugs like cannabis, there is no other way to detect active impairment. With the usage rates of cannabis increasing so much in recent years, the need to detect actively impaired workers is extremely prevalent. With IDT, cannabis impairment can be discovered before it causes a safety incident, potentially saving a life.
It comes in a variety of forms, but Impairment Detection Technology is significantly more sophisticated than simple chemical tests for drugs. Imagine a world in which you can test your safety-sensitive employees for impairment before the start of every shift and after they return for lunch. This is what IDT enables.
What is a reasonable suspicion test and how does it work with IDT?
Reasonable suspicion is required in most states to drug test a specific employee outside of post-accident, pre-employment or legal randomized testing. It requires the employer to establish a rational basis for believing that the employee is currently impaired on the job based on physical indicators. Employers must understand reasonable suspicion and document it carefully, while keeping managers and supervisors up to date on their impairment detection training.
Impairment detection technology must be used within the bounds of the laws of the state the employer is testing in. Employers should always check with their attorney to ensure that any planned changes to drug or impairment testing are done legally. That means that reasonable suspicion is still required for most employers to evaluate their employees using impairment detection technology.
That said, IDT allows employers to institute policies that would be impossible with traditional chemical drug testing. For example, employers could institute random testing on their workers prior to the start of every shift, or after lunch breaks. Policies like this are revolutionary in their ability to keep a workplace free from on-the job impairment. Traditional drug tests would cost thousands of dollars and hours of time to conduct in the same way. Tests like Gaize have no per-test fee though, and results are ready in just 6 minutes.
How does Impairment Detection Technology work?
Since there are several types of impairment detection technology, answering this question is tricky and nuanced. However, in general, impairment detection technology works by directly measuring how impairment is impacting the body, rather than using chemical detection as a proxy. This is important because chemical detection of drugs is generally not a good way to understand the impairment being experienced. The sole exception to this rule is alcohol, for which the experienced impairment closely mirrors the chemical in the body.
Categories of IDT are:
Physical Tests
Behavior Tests
Ocular Tests
Cognitive Tests
We’ll use Gaize as an example since it’s our own product and the most advanced impairment detection technology available today. Gaize is an ocular impairment detection technology product. It uses an automated eye test conducted using a virtual reality headset. The product has embedded eye tracking sensors, which capture extremely high-resolution eye movement data throughout the testing process. This data is then analyzed by machine learning and statistical algorithms to measure the impairment being experienced. Gaize is significantly more accurate in detecting active impairment than any human drug recognition expert or any other IDT product.
Learn more about Gaize by clicking here.
Can Impairment Detection Technology be used for employee drug testing?
Drug testing and impairment testing are different things. Do you care about employee impairment or the presence of drugs, like THC? Most employers are moving away from drug testing and toward impairment testing for this reason. They care about whether or not an employee is impaired at work, not what they do in their off time.
Impairment Detection Technology can test for impairment only, not the presence of drugs. That means that if someone fails an impairment detection test, the employer won’t typically know why. Gaize is different in that we conclusively determine the cause of the impairment if possible, and report that too. IDT tests are often backed by a traditional chemical drug test so the employer can determine if they are impaired on a legal substance or an illegal one. This may have different implications for the employee. For example, an employer may decide to fire an employee for being high on meth at work, while being high on cannabis only results in a suspension.
Employers need to decide what their objectives are in either drug testing or impairment testing. If the goal is a safe workplace, impairment testing is clearly the right path forward.
If an employee fails a test using Impairment Detection Technology, can you fire them?
This is a decision that should be made at the discretion of the employer, and that should be clearly documented in the impairment or drug testing policy. Many employers can and do make the decision to fire employees based on a failed impairment detection technology test. Some employers prefer to simply send and employee home for the day unless the impairment becomes habitual. Others may suspend the employee or issue a write-up in their personnel file.
In any case, make sure you have a documented impairment testing policy, and that you’ve established reasonable suspicion if required. From there, it’s at the discretion of the employer as to what the appropriate next steps are. If you have questions, be sure to contact your attorney to find out what’s legal in your state.
Who is using Impairment Detection Technology today?
Employers all over the world are using impairment detection technology to keep their workplaces safe. Since it respects worker rights and privacy much more than the extremely invasive chemical drug tests, employers find it easier to do, more accurate at discovering active impairment, and much better tolerated by their employees.
Major employers have transitioned to impairment detection over standard drug tests, and more and more are doing it each day.
Conclusion
Impairment Detection Technology is rapidly replacing outdated employee drug testing programs. This is because IDT allows for detection of on-the-job impairment as it’s being experienced. Drug tests on the other hand can only tell you if an employee has previously used a drug. With hiring and retaining talent being extremely challenging, and cannabis being legal in much of the US and Canada, many employers are choosing to drop THC testing and focus on detecting impairment in the workplace.
Gaize is the leading impairment detection technology. It relies on decades of science and records video evidence of eye movement as the test is being conducted. To learn more about Gaize for workforce use, please click here.
