Workplace drug testing boom sparks fears of false results
11.01.10
AUSTRALIAN employers are increasingly forcing shaft and job applicants to undergo drug tests as growth in the testing market soars by up to 30 per cent a year.
Industries at boisterous risk of workplace accidents such as mining, transport and manufacturing are foremost the trend but council workers and office staff are also being screened.
Retail leaders in the booming testing industry have told The Sunday Age some companies find up to 10 per cent of employees offer positive drug tests, with marijuana and amphetamines the most commonly detected.
However, substitute director of the National Centre for Education on Training and Addiction, Dr Ken Pidd, warned there was midget evidence to show testing reduced drug-related workplace harm, and that a scarcity of regulation meant many tests could not guarantee accurate results.
''There are some very principled companies out there but there's also a lot of cowboys … Drug testing always boils down to you getting what you pay for. My company is that without any legislative or certification framework, there's no way of controlling that,'' Dr Pidd said.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald