This morning’s newspapers carried another story about workplace drug testing and the invasion of privacy some workers feel from it, this led to a whole lot of talk-back on Geoff Hutchinsons Breakfast program on ABC Local Perth radio, which led to a call to me to discuss the future of workplaces and drug testing.

Well that’s the history, but the future goes likes this.

We are on the precipice of wearable computers and internet of things, the first gives us super powers to monitor vital signs and health and well being in real time and in if programmed could also monitor or assess our drug and alcohol readings. The latter gives every inanimate object an IP address and makes it searchable.

When you put the two of these together you end up with a real time monitoring regime that uses leading indicators (future predictors) rather than lagging indicators (historical testing of past usage and ingestion)  and marries it up with a knowledge of the equipment about to be used, to provide a more accurate real time assessment of a person actual ability to undertake the task at hand.

We also chatted about the workplace of tomorrow, whether drug and alcohol testing will be relevant in a decades time and whether we will still want to go to work in the 2020’s.

Great conversation, so have a listen now and then let me know your thought on the workplace and drug and alcohol testing in the future