Drug testing policy 'outdated'

Mining has been one of Australia's most progressive industries when it comes to workplace drug testing - but many companies are now working with policies outdated by more than 10 years, according to a leading national provider of drug and alcohol screening programs. National account manager for d:tec Australia, Andrew Leibie says mining was one of the first industries to embrace workplace drug testing in Australia over a decade ago, but now the policies need an overhaul.

The industry began negotiating for Australian standards in the mid-1990s and it is now legislated for mine sites in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia to have some form of policy to identify and manage the risks associated with drugs and alcohol.

However, a large number of companies are still working with the same policies and procedures they developed more than a decade ago, and many of these are now outdated.

For example, on many sites the staff performing tests are not trained in the Australian Standard 4308 - and in several cases are not compliant with the standard.

As another example, in the mid-1990s most drug testing policies did not consider educating employees about the impact drug use can have on their ability to carry out their work.

Today, it is widely recognised that employee education is a key factor in the success of any drug testing program and that this needs to form part of company policy in order for the program to be effective.

Leibie claims that as a result of this lack of education, many mine site workers did not understand the impact drugs could have on their own personal safety.

"One mine site where we conducted testing had an employee test positive to what he described as 'a few headache tablets'. However, most common headache tablets don't show up during a drug test - only the strong pain relievers that contain codeine.

"The employee subsequently admitted that he had taken some of his wife's prescription pain relievers, for his bad back. Reading the instructions on the label to take 'no more than two tablets every four hours', he'd reasoned that since he was a large man with a really bad back, he'd take a handful, and had swallowed around six to eight tablets in one dose.

"He'd then gone to work to operate a haulpak around the mine site.

"The safety implications of this lack of education and understanding are quite alarming when you consider people who have taken drugs are much more likely to be involved in workplace injuries.

"Some studies have shown the probability of having a workplace accident increases by up to 25 per cent when drug use is involved. These workers are also far more likely to be involved in absenteeism and are more likely to be involved in workplace aggression."

Leibie says that 20 to 25 per cent of all occupational injuries and 3 to 15 per cent of fatal injuries were the result of drug and alcohol use.

"Of workers who show a positive result for workplace screening, alcohol, cannabis, prescription drugs for non-medicinal purposes and amphetamines are the most common drugs identified," he said.

"At the same time, drug use in mine sites isn't just about illicit substances - it's also about people taking large doses of painkillers or people who are self-medicating themselves on alcohol as a result of emotional or other problems."

Leibie said that in line with the pace of scientific development and improvements to the quality of testing, it was important for mining companies to maintain access to the latest scientific data and review their policy every two to three years, especially in regards to training, as referred to above.

He also said it was important for mining companies and their employees to understand that workplace testing wasn't about 'catching out' workers using drugs.

"First and foremost, drug and alcohol testing is about creating safer mine sites," he said.

"Screening programs should be undertaken within a mine site's broader occupational health and safety goals. Any other benefit of workplace testing is secondary to this.

"Some companies use testing to improve and maintain the health of their workforce, while others consider it equally as important as insisting workers wear safety jackets on site."