The hospitality and events industry occupies an unusual position in the drug and alcohol testing landscape. Unlike mining, construction, or transport — where testing is well established and often mandated — hospitality and events organisations have traditionally given little consideration to formal testing programs. The industry’s high turnover, reliance on casual workers, and cultural norms around alcohol make it both a challenging and, for some operations, a necessary environment for testing.

This article examines when drug and alcohol testing makes sense in hospitality and events, the practical challenges of implementing it, and how to design an approach that is both effective and proportionate.

Why Consider Testing in Hospitality?

The case for testing in hospitality is not as immediately obvious as in heavy industry, but it becomes clearer when the specific risks are examined.

Safety-Sensitive Roles

Many hospitality and events roles are more safety-sensitive than they might initially appear:

• Commercial kitchen staff — working with knives, hot surfaces, deep fryers, slicers, and other equipment in a fast-paced, high-temperature environment.
• Delivery and fleet drivers — operating vehicles for food and beverage delivery, catering transport, or event logistics.
• Events riggers and stagehands — working at heights, with heavy equipment, and on temporary structures during event bump-in and bump-out.
• Forklift and warehouse operators — handling stock, kegs, and equipment in venue back-of-house and distribution centres.
• Security personnel — managing crowd safety, conflict, and emergency response.

Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) Obligations

All Australian states and territories require staff who serve alcohol to hold a Responsible Service of Alcohol certificate. RSA obligations include refusing service to intoxicated patrons and monitoring the consumption behaviour of customers. The irony of requiring staff to assess customer intoxication while those same staff may be impaired themselves is not lost on the industry.

While RSA legislation does not explicitly require testing of staff, the underlying principle — that alcohol service should be managed responsibly — supports the case for ensuring that staff are fit for duty.

Public-Facing Roles

Hospitality and events workers interact directly with the public. Impaired behaviour by staff — whether it manifests as poor service, inappropriate conduct, or unsafe practices — directly affects customer experience, brand reputation, and, in licensed venues, regulatory compliance.

When Testing Adds Value

Not every hospitality business needs a formal drug and alcohol testing program. The decision should be driven by the risk profile of the operation.

Testing Is Most Valuable When:

• The operation includes safety-sensitive roles such as driving, forklift operation, rigging, or commercial cooking.
• The venue or event carries a liquor licence and is subject to regulatory oversight.
• The organisation has experienced incidents or near-misses that may be connected to substance use.
• There are contractual requirements — for example, events held at client sites that require all workers to comply with the client’s drug and alcohol policy.
• The organisation employs workers in roles where impairment poses a risk to public safety.

Testing May Be Less Necessary When:

• All roles are low-risk, office-based, or administrative.
• The workforce is very small and closely supervised.
• There is no driving, machinery operation, or work at heights involved.

Practical Challenges With High Turnover

Hospitality and events is defined by workforce fluidity. Annual turnover rates in the sector can exceed 70%, and many roles are filled by casual, seasonal, or temporary workers. This creates specific challenges for testing programs.

Constantly Changing Workforce

When workers may only be engaged for a single shift, a single event, or a few weeks of seasonal work, maintaining an accurate testing pool is difficult. Workers join and leave faster than traditional administrative processes can accommodate.

Pre-Employment Testing Practicality

Pre-employment testing is standard in many industries but can be impractical in hospitality, where a worker may be hired and commence within 24 hours. The cost and delay of testing may be disproportionate for a casual engagement of uncertain duration.

Cost Per Worker

With a large, transient workforce, the cost of testing every worker can be substantial. Organisations must weigh the cost of testing against the safety benefit, particularly for short-term casual engagements.

Cost-Effective Approaches

Given the practical constraints, hospitality and events organisations should consider tailored approaches to testing that maximise safety impact while managing cost and administrative burden.

Targeted Role-Based Testing

Rather than testing all staff, focus your program on the roles with the highest safety risk — drivers, forklift operators, riggers, kitchen brigade members, and security personnel. This concentrates your resources where they will have the greatest impact.

For-Cause and Post-Incident Testing

Even organisations that do not implement random testing should have a clear for-cause and post-incident testing procedure. The ability to test a worker when there is reasonable suspicion of impairment or following an incident is a fundamental safety measure that requires minimal ongoing cost.

Event-Specific Testing

For events companies, testing may be most practical as an event-specific measure — for example, conducting random testing of rigging crews during the bump-in period for major events, or testing all drivers before a logistics-intensive event.

Random Testing at a Sustainable Frequency

Random testing does not need to cover 50% of the workforce annually to be effective. Even a modest program — covering 10 to 20% of eligible workers per annum — creates a deterrent effect and demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to fitness for duty.

Integration With Onboarding

For workers in higher-risk roles who are engaged for longer periods (e.g., permanent kitchen staff, regular event crew), include drug and alcohol testing as part of the standard onboarding process. This sets the expectation from the outset and filters out candidates who cannot pass a screening.

Policy and Culture

Implementing testing in an industry where alcohol is part of the product and culture requires thoughtful policy design.

• Be explicit about alcohol — your policy should clearly state whether alcohol consumption during work hours is permitted and, if so, under what circumstances. Many venues allow staff to consume alcohol after service; define the boundaries.
• Address the culture honestly — acknowledge that the industry has a relationship with alcohol and other substances that differs from many other sectors. Frame the testing program as a safety measure, not a moral judgement.
• Lead from the top — management must model the behaviour expected by the policy. A testing program that applies to floor staff but not management will be perceived as unfair and will fail to gain workforce support.

Making It Work in Hospitality

Drug and alcohol testing in hospitality and events does not need to replicate the programs of mining companies or transport operators. It needs to be proportionate, targeted, and practical for the realities of the industry. A well-designed program that focuses on safety-sensitive roles, provides clear for-cause procedures, and operates at a sustainable frequency can meaningfully reduce risk without imposing an unsustainable administrative or financial burden.

If your hospitality or events organisation is ready to implement a testing program that works for your industry, FairTest makes it straightforward — from managing dynamic workforce pools and automating selections to recording results and maintaining the records that demonstrate your commitment to safety. Start your free trial today.