Kenya's drink-driving limit and what it means for workplace testing
The legal roadside limit is a floor, not a workplace policy. Here is how the Kenyan limit is defined, who enforces it, and why most employers set a stricter internal threshold.
What the law sets
Kenya's Traffic Act (Cap. 403) makes it an offence to drive, attempt to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle while the proportion of alcohol in breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit. The Act frames the offence around a prescribed breath alcohol concentration, and enforcement sits with the National Police Service supported by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
Two practical points follow. First, the statutory limit applies to driving on a road — it does not by itself govern what happens inside your yard, plant or depot. Second, the evidential process the police use is separate from the screening process an employer uses. Confirm the current prescribed limit and the enforcement procedure for your operation with NTSA or your legal adviser before writing it into policy.
Why employers set a stricter internal threshold
Most Kenyan employers running a serious safety programme do not use the roadside limit as their workplace threshold. Heavy-vehicle operators, mining sites and manufacturers commonly operate a zero or near-zero policy for safety-critical roles, because impairment risk in a plant environment starts well below the legal driving limit and because a bright-line rule is easier to apply consistently.
- Zero tolerance (0.00) for machine operators, drivers and safety-critical roles.
- A low screening threshold with a documented confirmation step for everyone else.
- A written consequence path that is applied identically at every site.
Screening versus evidential testing
A workplace breathalyzer produces a screening result. It tells you whether someone should be stood down and whether a confirmation step is needed. It is not, by itself, a court exhibit unless the device, the operator and the procedure meet the evidential requirements of that jurisdiction.
We state approvals only where documentary evidence has been verified for the exact model and market. Where a claim has not been verified, we describe the device as a professional breath alcohol screening device and help you confirm the requirement with your authority.
What to put in your policy
A defensible programme is written down before the first test. At minimum, record the threshold, who is tested and when, the device and its calibration interval, who is trained to operate it, how a positive screen is handled, and how records are stored and for how long.