The world of sports has never been a stranger to drug-related controversies, but if Power CEO Keith Thomas gets his way, the Port Adelaide Football Club will never get caught up in anything like that.
In a move that could only be seen as a reversal on its long-running stance against workplace drug testing, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is now pushing for mandatory drug and alcohol testing on building sites.
In Australia, a good number of job applicants are failing the pre-employment drug tests many employers are implementing for their companies. As it turns out, the same is true in neighbouring New Zealand, specifically in the city of Wanganui, according to a report by Regan Schoultz for the Wanganui Chronicle.
The 44-year-old truck driver who rear-ended another truck on the Hume Freeway last week has tested positive for drugs according to local police, says Patrick Hatch in a report for The Age.
A report by Kristian Silva for The Brisbane Times reveals that over the last two years, almost a dozen train drivers and guards working for Queensland Rail have failed workplace drug and alcohol tests.
The Fair Work Commission has dismissed a labour union’s attempt to block a coal exporting facility’s decision to adopt both urine and saliva drug tests for their workplace drug testing programs, and in effect declared that dual testing deters drug use in the workplace better than a single-method regime.
The termination for failing a random drug test of an employee of a company involved in the maintenance and service of baggage carousels at Sydney Airport has been upheld by the Fair Work Commission, says an article written by Tim Greenall for the Madgwicks Lawyers website.
By upholding the termination of employee for positive drug test, the FWC, sitting with a full bench, has effectively dismissed the unfair dismissal claim filed by the employee in question. The commission also stated that the positive test result constituted serious misconduct, and provides a valid reason for the employee’s sacking.
The employee, whose duties included “safety sensitive aviation activities”, maintained he only smoked a single marijuana joint with friends the Saturday before the test, and that it was done while off-work. The FWC, however, pointed to the fact that he showed up for work with cannabis levels above the acceptable threshold, and that was deemed to be “at work” conduct and in violation of the employer’s drug policy.
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Alcohol may be legal, but its effects on anyone who abuses them are sometimes even worse than the effects of using substances deemed illegal by governments. With Australia’s drinking culture, alcoholism is a natural end result, and many alcoholics are actually showing up at work drunk. Being drunk is already an unhealthy thing to be, but showing up at work drunk is far unhealthier. It is downright dangerous. Listed below are the dangers of showing up at work drunk.