Some Australian workers have had a win for workplace dignity, with the Fair Work Commission forcing one company to switch from urine to saliva in staff drug tests.

New South Wales State Government-owned energy company Endeavour Energy was brought before the Fair Work Commission over the conditions and requirement to conduct urine tests on its 2635 employees.

Initial findings in 2012 said the urine tests used were “unjust and unreasonable”, as they found evidence of drug use that could have been days old and therefore not work-related. Salivary tests only pick up drug-taking from the preceding hours.

Cheaper and faster processing has made drug tests common in the emergency services, aviation, transport and mining industries, with manager on the hunt for substances such as cannabis, amphetamines and opioids.

Endeavour Energy had argued that urine testing was more accurate, before suspending saliva testing along with two other companies when the National Association of Testing Authorities said it would no longer endorse facilities performing on-site drug testing of oral fluid.

The Fair Work tribunal has since ruled that neither salivary nor urinary tests are completely infallible.

The issue has been raised by a number of unions in NSW and across the country.

The NSW Fire Brigade Employees Union has won the right for firefighters to be subjected to saliva testing rather than urine, as has the NSW Rail, Tram and Bus Union and Electrical Trades Union NSW.