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Showing posts with the label workplace drug testing

Methamphetamine ‘Ice’ and the Workplace

‘Ice’ is crystal methamphetamine, a form of methamphetamine (d-methamphetamine) Why do people take methamphetamine?  Methamphetamine use (including ice) increases levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates sleep, mood and appetite. Its use results in feelings of intense euphoria, exhilaration and increased arousal and activity. This can result in the user feeling alert, energised, talkative, happy, confident and powerful. The effect of any drugs, including methamphetamine, can have a significant impact on workplace health, safety, relationships and productivity. Methamphetamine use can impact on the workplace in several ways. ·          Some people may use methamphetamine while at work because they feel it improves their ability to work. For example, shift workers, hospitality staff or long haul drivers may use it to help them stay awake and concentrate for long periods of time. In reality, it affects the way a person sees the world and how they react t

Compulsory drug and alcohol testing to be introduced on building sites

New drug and alcohol tests for building sites In an attempt to improve workplace safety standards on construction sites, the Federal Government has announced plans to introduce compulsory drug and alcohol testing on building sites. Mr Abetz on Friday introduced amendments to the Building Code to improve workplace safety standards on construction sites. Fair Work Building and Construction will be responsible for auditing contractors to ensure they have a fitness for work policy in place within 28 days. "It is essential that workers on construction sites do not present a risk to themselves, their co-workers, and the public by having drugs and alcohol in their systems," Senator Abetz said. "Safety is a paramount consideration on construction sites. It is simply an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of employees and the public to have workers affected by drugs or alcohol on construction sites." For further information and to access th

Drug testing both saliva and urine can be OK in the workplace

Drug testing both saliva and urine can be OK in the workplace, says Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission For the first time, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has endorsed an employer's right to enforce a drug testing regime that incorporates both random saliva and urine testing, in an important decision which gives employers more scope to manage safety risks in the workplace (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union ‒ Construction and General Division v Port Kembla Coal Terminal Limited [2015] FWCFB 4075). Although the Full Bench allowed the CFMEU's appeal, it still concluded that a policy that required employees to undergo both forms of testing was reasonable , given the deterrent value of the testing and its role in allowing the employer to identify and manage safety risks at the workplace. Read more

Drug use in the workplace

Staying drug-safe at work By Staff Writers - Government News Continued recreational drug use in Australia presents an urgent challenge for local governments to show leadership to ensure all their staff have a safe workplace, according to testing expert Michael White. A recent United Nations report on worldwide drug use showed that, per capita, Australia has the highest rates of dangerous and illicit drug use in the world. In effect, Australians are the world’s highest users of Ecstasy, Ice and Cannabis, and many of those drug-using Australians work in local government jobs. The variety of potentially dangerous roles carried out by local government employees is of significant concern to Michael White, who says that local governments need to get serious about drugs in the workplace, and develop procedures and protocols to ensure local government worksites are drug-safe. “Council workers are driving trucks, operating heavy machinery, in charge of roadside mowers, bu

Oil, Gas and Mining Drug Testing Update

Oil and gas next on drug search hit list 19 January, 2015 Ben Hagemann Drug screening is set to continue at critical transit points around West Australia as Operation Redwater gears up for a third phase of operation targeting oil and gas workers. Last week the second phase of Redwater focussed on searching airports servicing BHP and Rio Tinto mines, including the Newman Airport, but the third phase will look further afield to deal with other regional airports servicing the oil and gas industry. In conjunction with the airport searches, heavy haulage drivers were also targeted for drug screening in an operational component of Redwater, called Operation Phaeton. Operation Redwater co-ordinator Commander Murray Smalpage said the traffic stoppage took place at a strategically chosen location near Wubinn, where most traffic to and from the Pilbara must pass. “Woven is a jump off point for road trains, so that was the subject of quite intensive traffic operations, targetin

Drug tests at Immigration a waste of time and money, says expert

Drug tests at Immigration a waste of time and money Noel Towell 14 January 2015 Reporter for The Canberra Times The Immigration Department is wasting its time and taxpayers' money on forced drug tests for thousands of public servants, according to a leading workplace drug and alcohol expert. The tests will be no deterrent, enormously expensive and might even make matters worse by forcing drug users in the department on to harder substances, according to AOD workplace testing's Dr Donna Bull. But the department says that it is no ordinary workplace and that illicit drug use by government officials represents an unacceptable corruption risk to the nation's border protection system. Dr Bull, an independent consultant, says up to 5000 public servants would have to be tested each year to give the department a realistic chance of catching bureaucrats who turn up to work high. But Dr Bull says a mandatory testing regime in the British Army resulted in soldi

Mining Drug Raids in WA

Mining drug raids continue in WA 4 December, 2014 Vicky Validakis FMG’s Cloudbreak mine has been the target of a police drug raid as the industry-wide crackdown continues. FIFO workers were searched as they disembarked from planes landing at the site "This is part of a community and industry-wide crackdown, to reduce the incidents of illicit drugs/substance possession," WA Police said. "This is a community issue and the community can expect to see more of these police actions in the near future." So far the searches have resulted in one summons for possessing prescription drugs without a prescription. Another worker is set to undergo further testing after returning a positive result for THC, a compound found in cannabis. Australian Manufacturing Workers Union secretary Steve McCartney said the searches over-the-top as workers are already subject to drug and alcohol testing. "To bully and harass people at the airport is o

Changes to Australian Standard AS4308:2008

The updated AS4308-2008 Standard has made fundamental changes in sample collection and Laboratory confirmation testing. Here are some of the key points: Summary: The standard requires collectors to have completed a nationally accredited course in drug screen collection and/or onsite testing. What is evident is that clients performing their own collections will need to have their staff sign off if they wish to collect samples and/or do onsite tests in accordance with Section 2 of the new standard. The standard and NATA also requires laboratories to state unequivocally on the report the status of collections and their compliance to Section 2 Where a collection is not performed by a registered WDP collector the following will appear on the WDP report. ‘This sample has not been collected by a registered WDP collector. Cannot be verified compliant with AS4308:2008Section 2’. The New Collection Procedure The changes to collection are to do with the mandatory splitting of samp

NATA - Workplace Drug Testing and Saliva/Oral Fluid Devices

NATA have finally released information regarding Saliva Drug Testing device standards under AS/NZS4760-2006. We have known for a substantial amount of time that NATA had withdrawn the accreditation for onsite Oral Fluid/Saliva drug testing devices, because we were attempting to get our devices Certified for AS4760 compliance. They have just made an official announcement to that effect: Having conducted several assessments, it has become apparent that there are a number of significant issues with Section 3 of AS 4760:2006 which remain unable to be resolved. This is despite NATA seeking independent feedback to clarify these issues from key professional bodies including the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA), the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists (AACB) and from our counterpart organisation in New Zealand, International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ). Accordingly, NATA has not granted accreditation to any facility for AS 4760, Section 3 and a decisi

Union successful in fight to ban urine drug tests

Vicky Validakis Australian Mining Fair Work Commission supports the use of Saliva Drug Tests Testing the urine of workers in order to detect drug and alcohol use has been banned by the Fair Work Commission which found employees at Endeavour Energy are to be tested using saliva swabs instead. Last week the Fair Work Commission refused Endeavour Energy's bid to urine test its 2635 employees. The commission labelled the use of urine tests “unjust and unreasonable” in a case which could have wider implications for a range of industries, including mining. Endeavour Energy launched the latest legal action in October last year, with the matter heard in the Fair Work Commission in December. The company was attempting to vary the original decision, which required the use of oral testing, with urine based testing. The Electrical Trades Union said the decision confirmed two previous court rulings that found the use of urine test was unfair because it could detect drug u

Union to mount challenge against drug tests for miners

By Babs McHugh ABC Rural Miners preference Saliva Drug Tests over Urine Drug Tests A union plans to mount a legal challenge against urine testing for drugs on mine sites. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has called it intrusive and degrading and wants urine tests replaced with saliva tests. Secretary of the West Australian branch, Steve McCartney, says saliva tests are used by police and the judiciary and should be implemented on mine sites. "Now we've got the technology that proves saliva testing works, why would we have our members subjected the indignity of having to do a urine test?" he said. "Not only a urine test, but a urine test in company (of others) or under camera surveillance. "So there's an issue for our members that's there somebody from the company standing around while you're urinating in front of them, while there's a test that proves the same fitness for work by simply putting a stick

Exercise may cause you to fail drug test

Exercise may cause you to fail drug test Darren Osborne ABC I f you smoke cannabis and then exercise the next day, be warned - you could fail a random drug test. That's the finding from a team of Australian researchers looking at the long-lasting effect of the active component in cannabis, known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is a lipophilic compound, meaning it dissolves in fat molecules. Previous studies have shown that it can be stored in the body for at least 28 days, with some former heavy cannabis users still showing traces of THC in their body six months later. Professor Iain McGregor, from the University of Sydney's School of Psychology , says he was prompted into studying the long-lasting effects of THC after hearing numerous cases of people claiming not to have recently used cannabis, yet had high levels of the active compound in their urine or blood. "The common dominator in all these scenarios was that the people were burning fat,"

Urine drug test direction was reasonable: Full Bench

Urine drug test direction was reasonable: Full Bench http://www.workplaceohs.com.au A worker repudiated his contract of employment when he refused to comply with a lawful and reasonable direction to submit to a urine drug test, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has confirmed. When RB refused to do so, he was advised in writing that his employment would be terminated unless he changed his position. However, RB persisted with his refusal to undergo the urine test and was dismissed. Subsequently, RB lodged an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission. He argued that the A&DM Policy was concerned with testing employees for impairment at work only, and thus a direction for him to undergo a urine test, being a test that was incapable of detecting impairment, was not reasonable. RB relied on the fact that AS 4308, the Australian Standard for drug testing urine, states that ‘[t]his standard has no relevance to impairment’. In April 2013, Fair Work C

Workers dodge positive drugs tests - My Thoughts

Workers dodge positive drugs tests 26 March, 2013 Vicky Validakis Mining Australia The Article (see below for comments) Industry drug testers have raised concerns that workers are managing their illegal drug intake in a bid to escape getting caught out in tests. Kerryanne Tawhai, director of Down to Earth results, a company that tests illegal substances in resource industry workers, expressed concern that workers were managing their drug intake to avoid testing positive to drugs, including amphetamines. The comments come after Queensland Police in Gladstone raided a suspected methamphetamine laboratory in West Gladstone on Friday. "(It) goes with the territory," she said. "You've got large a congregation of people and there's nothing really to do in this town." She said most people know that these type of drugs left the body in a short-time, enabling users to adjust their usage before they go back to work on mine sites.