MediNat Australia

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 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

Saliva Drug Testing Saliva Tests for drugs is the least invasive and fastest way to test for current impairment from drugs in the workplace. As with any rapid test method including urine drug testing, a Non Negative result needs to be confirmed by a laboratory i n order to obtain a confirmed analytical result. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) or Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) are the preferred confirmatory methods. Here are some Questions and Answers regarding issues some have with Saliva Testing: Q: I had a candidate submit a negative test when the person appears to be under the influence of drugs or something else. A: There are a number of possible explanations:       1. I assume the candidate was tested for Alcohol       2. If the Saliva Test did not have a Benzodiazepine test strip this could be the cause.       3. There are very few substances or adulterants that can provide a false negative test            with saliva. MediNat will s

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

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

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