Apr 20, 2015
After a dispute between the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union) and Port Kembla Coal Terminal, the Fair Work Commission found in favour of Port Kembla Coal Terminal and their request that employees provide urine samples for drug testing. The CFMEU holds that urine testing is an unreasonable invasion of employee’s privacy. FWC’s position is that a combination of urine and saliva drug testing is better than use of either type of device by itself, and that given the choice between “safe lives or private lives”, safety is more important than privacy. Read the entire decision here...
Apr 15, 2015
HC Online has a news item reporting on allegations that truck drivers are dealing and using drugs while working. “A former Melbourne truck driver told The Herald Sun that his coworkers regularly took drugs, and meeting areas were set up using codes over radio, where drugs would be handed out.” Read the full article...
Feb 25, 2015
An article in ATN, a publication aimed at Transport and Logistics managers, discusses a recent story on Channel Nine’s A Current Affair where a truck driver estimates that ten per cent of drivers are guilty of poor behaviour on the road. “Both the Victorian Transport Association (VTA) and the New South Wales branch of the Australian Trucking Association (ATA NSW) condemned the actions depicted, but say the rogue drivers make up a much smaller proportion of the road transport industry workforce.” Read the article here:...
Feb 5, 2015
Government News posted an in-depth article about staying drug-safe at work. It covers some key statistics about drug and alcohol use in the workplace: 25 per cent of workplace accidents are drug related; 10 per cent of workplace deaths are drug related; Almost 70 per cent of drug users are in full time employment; and 80 per cent of workplace drug-related injuries involve co-workers or bystanders not drug users. It also goes on to cover the law, common substances (such as ecstasy, methamphetamine and alcohol), creating a drug-safe workplace program, and a case study of a NSW North Coast council offer receiving reports that workers were behaving erratically and dangerously. The entire article is worth reading and is available...
Sep 17, 2014
The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre (NCPIC) released a report in August about a survey they did recently showing that one in five manual labourer are high at work. The survey covered workers from transport, mining, defence, transport and construction. It also showed that only 29% of survey participants believed that they will be tested at work sites that conduct screening. Read the entire report...
