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Bosses reject drug tests to keep staff
ERIC TLOZEK
11Nov07
ANALYSIS: Bryan Chapman is tested for drugs and alcohol.
TERRITORY companies are not drug testing their workers for fear they will quit.
While random drug testing is on the rise around Australia, the manager of an NT testing company said employee sampling was only at an "embryonic" stage in the Top End.
"There seems to be a reluctance to conduct testing due to the fear of losing employees," Integrity Sampling NT and South Australia managing director Bill Hayes said.
Mr Hayes, who employs three people to test in Darwin, said the bulk of Integrity's business came from national companies with Territory offices.
He said companies using testing were mainly involved in transport or construction and that a skills shortage may have accounted for some fear from employers.
But Mr Hayes said part of the reluctance to test came from an ignorance of the procedure, which only detects if the psychoactive component of the drug is still active in a person's system.
"We are not the lifestyle police," he said.
"It (a drug) won't show if they don't come to work during that psychoactive period."
The saliva test, which takes about five minutes to complete, detects opiates, cocaine, THC (from marijuana), amphetamines and methamphetamines.
Drug testing is conducted at all Territory mine sites, NT Minerals Councils chief executive Kezia Purick said.
"It just ensures the person is fit to work and can perform the duties they are paid to perform properly," she said.
Logistics firm Linfox is one of the few non-resources companies toc onduct testing.
Spokesman Gary Max said the decision to test was made at a national level and that testing had been in place for the past five years.
"There are three levels of testing, pre-employment, random sampling and in response to specific incidents," he said.
NT WorkSafe Employment Services deputy chief executive John Hassed said there was no requirement under safety legislation for employers to test.
"NT WorkSafe does not specifically advise employers to test for drugs but advises on an Employer's Duty of Care Responsibilities under Section 29 of the Work Health Act," he said.
"The duty of care includes ensuring workers are able to safely undertake tasks required of them."
NT News