(By Rachel Davenport)
As the UK continues to ease lockdown, businesses are turning their focus towards reopening their doors, whilst trying to fathom the latest Government guidance on how to do so properly and within regulations.
This is a huge undertaking for health and safety leaders, whose workload has suddenly tripled thanks to coronavirus, its legacy of social distancing, and the need for increased hygiene and safety measures. If the standard health and safety requirements of a workplace were not tall order enough, the global pandemic has presented employers with a myriad additional logistic and complex OH&S requirements.
Alongside the well-known COVID-19 armoury of facemasks, hand gels and Perspex screens, there is now a need for devices such as thermal cameras to measure temperatures, increased on-site risk-assessments, staggered start and finish times for employees and reconfigured office arrangements, to name a few.
Another tool that some employers are relying on to provide extra protection and reassurance for their employees, is on-site COVID-19 testing. Testing has long been considered the key to tackling the virus and yet much confusion remains about the types of testing available and what each type of test is for.
AlphaBiolabs’ IgM-IgG Antibody COVID-19 Test is one of the world’s first rapid screening tests for the detection of coronavirus infection. Its dual functionality can identify a current, ongoing infection or a recent, previous infection and results are available within 15 minutes of taking the test.
Our instant antibody test originated in Germany and is widely used as part of the country’s own testing program. It has been evaluated by our NHS and deemed, ‘fit for use’ – becoming part of a staff-wide screening scheme within a North West–based NHS Trust.
In addition, our rt PCR COVID-19 test can help employees determine their current infection status and whether they are actively carrying the virus, and therefore potentially contagious.
Sample collection for the PCR test can be carried out by the employee themselves or overseen by occupational health or a company health worker. The samples are then sent back to our laboratory and analysed by our team of trained scientists, who will return your COVID-19 test results within 1-2 days.
Our COVID-19 tests are part of a suite of testing solutions that we offer employers looking to take that extra step towards protecting their workforce, and keeping the workplace COVID-secure. Employers can receive the test results directly so they can either identify carriers and remove them from the workplace, or press on with usual busines operations, providing confidence to employees that all possible measures are in place.
AlphaBiolabs has been providing award-winning DNA, drug and alcohol testing solutions to workplaces across the UK, since 2004. In all our years’ experience, we believe workplace drug and alcohol testing has never be more important, as we see droves of employees returning to work, who have been enjoying time at home, without the need to drive to and from work, or indeed to limit their consumption of alcohol and in some cases, drugs.
Our work with multiple companies, large and small, sector to sector, has allowed us to tailor the best drug and alcohol testing policies. We can provide sample collectors who can be on-site within 2 hours, with our state-of-the-art testing equipment – giving on-the-spot screening results and providing a rapid ‘back to lab’ confirmatory testing service where non-negative results occur.
Like the world around us, our package of support for businesses has adapted to meet the new demands employers are facing – let AlphaBiolabs work with you to help keep your employees safe and your workplaces open.
Established in 2004, AlphaBiolabs is a UKAS ISO 17025 accredited laboratory providing award-winning DNA, drug and alcohol, and COVID-19 testing solutions to workplaces across the UK and overseas.
Rachel Davenport is Commercial Director at AlphaBiolabs