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Friday 8 June 2012

Drug Test the Real Reason for Self Control


We are all taught from childhood to be polite and courteous to our elders, always say please and thank you, and to exercise self control. Our beloved and very naïve parents faithfully pounded in lesson after lesson, hoping to mold us into responsible adult citizens. We were taught to use self control to avoid making other people uncomfortable or embarrassed. We were taught to use self control to aid with our volatile tempers. We were taught that self control helps us build successful and long-lasting relationships with other people. What is the real reason for self control? As children, these reasons were not good enough, but perhaps the real reason might have been effective.
Self control is used as a tool to regulate our emotions so that we do not act rashly and so that we give ourselves time to calm down before we make permanent decisions while in the midst of emotional turmoil. Self control gives us time so that we can arrange our thoughts and feelings about something.
Unfortunately, self control is not always available due to things like alcohol abuse and drug abuse. When under the influence of these substances, anything can be said, anything can be done, and no responsibility whatsoever is taken for one’s personal actions for Drug Testing. The luxury of the added time to collect one’s thoughts is simply not there. Self control is not used, extra time to cool down is not afforded, and the result is frequently a mar upon a perfectly good relationship, either in the workplace drug test or in your personal life.
Professionally, self control is necessary in order to give someone time to deal with an unruly client or a coworker who is having a really bad day. This can afford many benefits, including solidifying your business’s reputation and bringing in return customers. This is helpful because many circumstances arise where returning customers or clientele are based entirely upon the ability of your employees to exercise and to keep exercising self control. This is why employee drug and alcohol testing is considered to be such a valuable asset. Drug testing enables you to discern employees with self control from the ones without. This is why CMM Technology exists today. We want to make your business as viable as possible. 

Sunday 29 April 2012

Mining contractor HWE cleared to continue urine drug screening


Employee drug testing is mandatory at mining sites but debate continues over oral and urine drug tests. Legal parameters are being defined as employers and unions seek arbitration over screening tests. A recent ruling has backed a mining contractor over its use of urine tests.

A recent decision by Fair Work Australia has found mining contractor HWE is entitled to take urine samples for drug testing despite union opposition.
The ruling was handed down on November 30, 2011, after protests by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union that HWE should use saliva drug tests for its onsite drug testing.

Unions have traditionally favoured oral tests, claiming the method is less intrusive and better protects workers’ privacy. In the case before Fair Work the CFMEU argued that the psychoactive compound in cannabis – THC – showed up on urine drug test even days after use, when it was not likely to cause impairment. It argued that HWE had agreed to use saliva drug test upon an Australian Standard being reached.
Fair Work found that while this standard (AS4760) had been put in place (since 2006) there was still “compelling rational reasons for regarding saliva testing as less effective than urine testing”.

“In a practical sense the dispute is ultimately about an intrusion into employees’ privacy and whether employees who consume cannabis privately while on an extended break from work should be exposed to a risk of a positive urine screening test when there is no prospect that they remain impaired when they return to work,” Fair Work said in its ruling.
It found HWE was “eminently reasonable” in its decision not to change to oral drug testing.

“Impairment by drugs or alcohol is an important safety issue at coal mines,” Fair Work said.

“The nature of the mining process and the plant and equipment used in mining is such that employees who are impaired by drugs or alcohol present a substantial safety risk to themselves and others that must be controlled.

“There are very onerous statutory occupational health and safety obligations imposed on employers in New South Wales… The use of on-site screening rather than laboratory screening is well justified by HWE’s concern that the delay between the taking of a sample and obtaining the results of a laboratory test may lead to employees who are actually impaired working on dangerous equipment when that would not occur if an effective on-site screening test had been used.”

Leading Australian alcohol and drug test equipment suppliers CMM Technology said rulings such as the Fair Work decision demonstrated the challenges facing employers, particularly in high-risk sectors such as mining.

Director Murray Simon said the choice between oral and urine drug test was difficult as both had advantages and limitations.

He said the cost of drug testing as well as company requirements and policies were considerations. “Every workplace will have different needs but safety always has to be the priority,” he said.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Alcohol Test: Pregnant Employees


Mothers-to-be on your staff are always wonderful additions to your workplace. New hope, new growth, and the ever present excitement in the air are great to be around and enjoy, even if it is not you. Many companies offer benefits, time off, or various types of health coverage for new mums and this is to ensure the health of the mother, as well as that of the child. Speaking strictly in business terms, if both mother and child are happy and healthy, then less time is taken off of work and the more productive the working mother is. Fortunately, most women have a vested interested in making sure that their offspring and their own bodies are in good working condition at all times. In fact, studies of teen pregnancies indicate that teen mothers often quit their drinking or drug addiction when they find out that they are pregnant. Obviously, the maternal instinct is quite strong.

Unfortunately, employee drug testing has found that not all mothers-to-be care quite this much or possess this all-encompassing mother instinct. Even the most innocent of smiles can hide an apathetic view of the situation. This does not necessarily mean that these women (or girls) are monsters. Depending upon their home life, their high school life, or their circle of friends, having a baby may seem like more of a hobby or something to do to pass the time rather than the great responsibility that it is. Even after parenthood, some women simply do not feel the bond with their child that others do, and may seem to care less. Workplace drug test can prove whether this is just a lack of connection or if the mother has returned to a previous abusive habit.

Abuse comes in many forms and sometimes it comes in the form of neglect. Living creatures need nutrition, but they also need nurturing and to be trained up in the way that they should grow. This applies to all life forms. Employee drug testing is in the best interest of the company On-Site Drug Testing, but it also protects individual employees.