Drug link with workplace deaths
NICK HENDERSON
October 29, 2006 11:15pm
A shock report reveals a disturbing link between substance use and workplace death and injury. Government body SafeWork SA's research shows that up to 13 per cent of all workplace injuries and at least 5 per cent of deaths involve drugs or alcohol.
Half the number of employees of a South Australian company have tested positive for illegal drugs.
Tony Hehir, the owner of private workplace drug-testing company Worksafe SA, said more than 50 per cent of 30 employees using heavy machinery at one firm returned positive readings for illegal substances in the past month. One third of those caught were found to have amphetamines in their system.
The machinery they used could kill if misused, said Mr Hehir, a former police officer.
Drunk employees also regularly are detected.
The highest blood alcohol reading Worksafe SA has detected was 0.26.
"I can think of one piece of machinery I wouldn't get into sober and (one of the employees) got out of it at 0.24," Mr Hehir said.
Employers now are turning to random drug tests and even sniffer dogs to tackle the issue.
Mr Hehir said some companies have used unannounced swab testing of sweat left on machinery to determine how widespread the use of drugs is.
In the past three months, the detection of amphetamines, including speed and ice, has almost tripled in workplaces that Mr Hehir has tested.
A Flinders University study this year found nationally nearly one in five employees is using illegal drugs. The study was based on the 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey of 30,000 Australians.
The SafeWork SA report is believed to be the first major study into the use of drug and alcohol in workplaces in SA.
The report is based on previous research and shows at least five per cent of deaths and between 3 and 13 per cent of work injuries are related to drug and alcohol use.
Chief adviser of human factors at SafeWork SA, Valerie O'Keefe, said it was hard to gauge the exact extent of drug use at work. "The extent to which alcohol or other drug use actually occurs in the workplace is difficult to estimate due to gaps in data and the reluctance to report," she said.
Ms O'Keefe did not advocate drug and alcohol testing by employers, saying it was a "contentious strategy" and an "inappropriate mechanism" for dealing with the problem.
"Impairment in the workplace arising from the use of alcohol and other drugs may have a serious impact on health, safety and welfare in the workplace and also reduce productivity," she said.
"If testing is used, it is more effective when it is part of a comprehensive approach developed in consultation with people in the workplace.
"A comprehensive approach includes the development of a policy, training, information, supervision and access to assistance and support."
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Mitch Williams called on industries with a "significant record of workplace accidents" to introduce drug testing.
"I have received anecdotal evidence that such schemes have been very effective in improving productivity and, no doubt, workplace safety," Mr Williams said. "I think that's the direction we should be heading in and the Government should be proactive in that area."
A spokeswoman for Industrial Relations Minister Michael Wright said the Government would consider any SafeWork SA recommendations.
