Workers dodge positive drugs tests
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.
"They're out (of the body in) 42-72 hours," Tawhai said.
Tawhai also revealed that some industry tests were failing to pick up on imitation marijuana such as ‘Kronic’.
"There is a possibility that some substances might not be picked up," Tawhai said.
"Some of the testing kits can provide results for up to nine different substances, including alcohol."
The Observer reported a spokesman for industry employer Bechtel said random drug testing was conducted across all construction sites on a daily basis.
"The random testing on Bechtel's construction sites includes an alcohol breath test and a swab test," he said.
A culture of drug abuse in the fly-in-fly-out camps has been in the spotlight of late, with many saying the use of illegal drugs is rife throughout the industry.
One mining worker told ABC News employees used illicit substances in their recreation time, and a wide variety of drugs were on offer.
“You just see blokes out of their tree, especially when they knock off work,” he said.
“They might have a quick bong or shot of amphetamines, so you have to assume two quick beers don't send you as silly as some of them get.”
Police say strong demand from mining workers has helped Mount Isa become the “synthetic drug capital” of North Queensland.
Comment:
We supply a huge number of test kits to private buyers, we suspect for FIFO employees, as they know a test is coming up when they fly in.I tend to agree with some of the article comments, that recreational drug use 'off the job' should not necessarily interfere with the employment unless they are under the influence on the job.
I don't condone illicit drug use in any form, however it is a reality of our society and has been for decades, having spent a considerable portion of my life picking up the pieces and restructuring the lives of drug users or in some cases attending the funerals, it is not something I condone.
However I do think that when someone is on the job it is both an employee and employer responsibility, current intoxication with the use of any substance is an accident waiting to happen, it may affect many lives not just the drug user.
In this case it is imperative for onsite/employer drug testing programs to get it right!
Lets face it, urine drug tests can be adulterated with a multitude of substances to give false negatives, and if an employee has an 'appointment' for a drug test you can bet they will try to change the result in any way possible if they suspect they will give a positive test.
Some HR managers arrange a drug and alcohol test every Monday.... say no more...
The only way to test is 'random' the employee can't prepare for it!
The best random test is Saliva as it can be preformed anywhere anytime and you don't have to physically observe someone peeing in a cup.
By the way, if urine tests are not physically observed, don't expect positive results.....
There is still the thought that Saliva tests are not as accurate as urine...breaking news...they are! however they do measure shorter time frames so they measure 'current impairment' ....well isn't that what we are looking for?
Some mining companies are purchasing their test kits from international manufacturers, all I can say is purchaser beware!
We test multitudes of test kits from all over the world, the results of which, we discard over 95% of them as fake or at least not accurate, fudged or obscure product test results on the product inserts are the first telltale sign, a good test kit does not have to give obscure lab test results!
So I am not sure how these procurement people can tell if the tests they use are reliable or not, it has taken us many years of study and working with manufacturers to learn how to get good , accurate test kits.
Upshot! get good proven, accurate test units, test employees randomly for current impairment, don't make appointments.
In regard to synthetic drug tests, we will have a urine test available soon that tests 6 variants against the current tests that test 2 variants, we will also have a saliva test kit that tests for synthetic drugs which will be a world first.
Watch this space and MediNat Australia for the latest and best test kits in the market.
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