Engaging the Enemy

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Mediscreen believes in a direct approach. There aren’t any wishy-washy details when it comes to onsite drug and alcohol testing, and we don’t want any mistakes to be made in our business.

Engaging the enemy is a wartime phrase, referring to actually combating with the enemy, rather than being evasive or engaging in guerilla warfare.

In business, we are often told to “be professional” and not engage in conflict. We often do not even have it in us to be belligerent or obnoxious, even during times when such action would be appropriate. There is no honor in being a bully, and no one wants to be around (let alone work with) someone who is unpleasant or really depressing to be around.

There are a lot of criticism (from employees) of drug and alcohol testing WA practices, but not everyone thinks of it as annoying. Employers find onsite drug and alcohol screening to be especially powerful in reading abusive behavior in their employees.

I mean, how else do you know if someone is doing drugs?

In the meantime, it is suggested that it would be best to just let employees ruin their lives. After all, what harm could it do? Workers have the right to make a mess of their lives just like everyone else. Who care if they abuse alcohol or drugs? The truth is that workplace drug testing laws are not built around trying to control employees. These laws were designed to help people who are already working with these abusers.

When under the influence of alcohol or drugs, an employee can cause a lot of damage, make the company liable for otherwise insignificant mishaps, and these workers can be a danger to other people, which also makes the company liable legally for that person’s highly irresponsible behavior.

So, in effect, engaging the enemy refers to identifying potential problems and then eradicating them completely. That is where Mediscreen comes in. We are NATA accredited for onsite drug testing, and we are a powerful force in the business community at large.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/engaging-the-enemy/

The Dangers of Over Thinking

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Over thinking can really be a hassle. If you are constantly stuck in your mind, then you can quickly lose perspective on the real world because you are not out in it interacting with it. Over thinking can cause you to spend too much time thinking about how you were seen, what other people think of you, and by making assumptions for them about how they think of you. Rather than simply being quiet and concentrating on one worthy line of thought at a time, you can cover a great deal of obsession in a short amount of time. Drug screening can test your employees for potential abuse, but it cannot change the way they think, productive or otherwise.

Drug testing Australia is meant to give business owners and executives a way to flawlessly evaluate their employees. It is not, however, meant to try to control your employees, and this could not be done, anyway.

You just need the information.

Mediscreen can help.

We are accredited by NATA for testing in our unique onsite drug and alcohol screening methods. This is important, because it helps us to ensure your business safety and compliance with workplace drug testing laws. It also makes it so much easier for you to choose us over our competition, because you know that we are a legitimately run company with skilled workers who take great pride in high quality drug and alcohol testing.

You cannot over think your choice to make us your specialist in health screening in your company. This is an important decision and it means that you will have to look at our prices, make sure of our accreditation by NATA, browse our website, look at our services, and form a plan in which you can have your employees screened easily and effectively.

Now, if anyone in your workplace is in danger of over thinking, just remember to tell them to concentrate on the task at hand and let everything work itself out. This usually calms the nerves of anyone in the grips of obsession. Think about choosing Mediscreen for onsite drug and alcohol screening.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/the-dangers-of-over-thinking/

Health and Safety

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Health and safety are important roles which businesses have to take over on behalf of their employees. They are necessary attributes of any jobsite, and the care and attention of employees is of utmost importance when it comes to innovations and changes made within the company. If one employee finds it to be effective or safer to implement one technique, then their idea should be tested, evaluated, added on to or modified if needed, and then distributed out to all relevant sites within the company.

There is a necessary implementation of health and safety in businesses which make their worker experience one of the primary reasons for investing back into the business. Rather than money being spent on the owners or on outside ventures which do not build and strengthen the business, investment in health and safety really piles on the responsibility and the overall health of the company itself.

Mediscreen believes in health and safety, and we are a part of the solution and overall control of dangerous circumstances in any business in Australia. You see, we specialize in onsite drug testing, and we are even NATA accredited for onsite drug testing. Obviously, this is a big deal, and a responsibility which we take very seriously.

When it comes to health and safety, you may not be able to control just how much of your employees abuse substances on the jobsite, but you will definitely be able to control what you do about it and how much you know about it. Regularly implement workplace drug testing is one of the primary ways in which businesses today implement health and safety measures. Mediscreen considers this to be our specialty and we are proud that there are so many people who eager to join our movement toward workplace safety. When it comes to onsite drug screening, we believe in being efficient, quick and very accurate. Make sure that your own business is looking after the health and safety of your employees. Take a look at Mediscreen’s website and determine if our company can be useful to yours.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/health-and-safety/

Happiness, Unbelievable Happiness

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Consistency is one of the marks of a good leader in business. If you would like to be a good leader, then remember that consistency motivates your employees and makes them feel safe and secure within your business. So, that means that if you are sad, depressed or unbelievably happy, it may be in your best interests to tone things down a bit and make your outward, public behavior more consistent.

Therefore, we ask that you begin to see your business in a way that you may have not seen it before. Rather than looking upon it as a mountain, or a large building, or an entity made up of knowledge and people, look upon your business as a large, deep, wide, smoothly flowing river. Think of all of the different ways in which your company has grown and developed over the years. Try to think of your operations in the format of a wide river with various currents underneath the surface, but which is otherwise fairly smoothly flowing and continuous in its progress.

That is the measure of consistency that it may be best for you to have. You may inspire your employees temporarily when you are really happy, but the truth is that your behavior may show a large decrease in energy when you return to your normal state. That change, especially frequent changes like this, can be really detrimental to your employees’ state of mind.

The same thing applies to your workers. If they are locked into a battle of wits, emotional turmoil, or some other roller coaster effect with one of their coworkers, then their productivity and sense of morale can greatly suffer. Therefore, it is in your best interests to bring workplace drug testing, NATA accredited health screening, to your place of business. Mediscreen is particularly adept with on site drug testing, and it is more convenient for both you and your employees to be screened at work rather than a laboratory. Don’t let substance abuse create a roller coaster effect on your workers. Get everyone screened on a regular basis, and help them to stay safe by identifying any potentially problematic employees in this way.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/happiness-unbelievable-happiness/

Get Back In Control

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At various times, we all feel out of control of our lives, our businesses, or our families. The truth is that we can control absolutely everything about ourselves, and we can only influence other people, and there can be no control to be had.

If the above scenario is taking place in your own business, remember that many people find it necessary to use onsite drug and alcohol testing to get back this feeling of control. Note that we said “feeling” of control, not the real thing. This is because, once again, it is impossible for humans to fully and completely control other humans.

Workplace drug testing laws do not exist to control your employees. Rather, they are there for when a worker loses control of himself or herself, and this problem can develop into danger or fatalities for everyone they work with. That is bad…that is really bad…and it must be monitored very carefully in order to not bring needless loss of life or safety onto the heads of your employees.

Get back in control of your business.

Do not attempt to force your staff members to do things which they are unwilling to attempt.

Instead, use science. The scientific method has yet to fail mankind. Drug and alcohol testing provided by Mediscreen is the way to go. Mediscreen is NATA accredited for onsite drug testing, and there is a great deal of happiness and relief created by our drug and alcohol testing services. It is nice to know that, when you go into work, you are safe, warm, and well provided for. Of course, there is a great deal to know in the meantime. You must know that your employees are safe and well cared for, too. You must know that your workers are being properly screened, and that is where Mediscreen comes in. Drug and alcohol testing is not a part of some rigorous schedule or over-achieving plan. No, it is a simple, basic evaluation process and we are proud to bring onsite drug and alcohol screening to your place of business.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/get-back-in-control/

Forcing Your Ideas Forward

Workplace drug testing is a tool of evaluation, and it helps you to put your ideas from brain waves into cold stark reality. In fact, many people do not get very far past the “idea” stage of development. They think that certain things would be cool to do. They may even get some tools and materials out and play around with them, but there is no commitment, no long term devotion, to the project that they have put forward. It is really important for everyone to understand how important ideas are, and also how powerful follow through action is on those ideas.

In order to make your vision a reality, you must first have a vision, and then you must secondly be willing to turn it into a reality. When you are forcing your ideas forward, both sides of this concept must be present. Many entrepreneurs begin to build a company, and then somewhere in the process, they meet a hitch or an obstacle that is simply too much for them to handle, and they put everything back and start on a new idea.

Nothing reaches development or maturity with this mindset, and there are no true long term plans. They give up and move on to something else before they make an real money or investment in the first idea.

Drug screening helps you to evaluate your employees when you have started up a blossoming business. First of all, this is practical, since people are the one statistic you can never be sure of. Secondly, this is a good idea because it helps both you and your employees to take your ideas and your company’s mission seriously. There will always be people who don’t really care about what they do or how their jobs affect the company as a whole. However, you can increase your chances of hiring high quality employees by making onsite drug testing a requirement. Mediscreen is NATA accredited for health screening, and our role in your business is to protect both your monetary assets and your human resources.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/forcing-your-ideas-forward/

Firing Squads and Company Takeovers

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When a business buys another business out, they have compromised both companies to a certain degree. There must be a high amount of trust between the two businesses, and wherever there is duplication of employees, many people will be fired, but not everyone. This is because some people distinguish themselves both personally and professionally all of the time.

Their job is never in danger, because of this.

However, many people suffer from being fired and from company takeovers. Is there a way to ensure the best benefit to all of your employees, both current and about-to-be-past? Well, yes, there is.

Many excellent business owners have decided that, if they fire an employee, they will first find employment for them elsewhere. They feel that their workers are in their charge, and that they are responsible for the care and job safety of their employees. Therefore, they plan on keeping their employees until an appropriate situation can be found for them elsewhere. Whether or not the employee takes the offered position is up to them.

Mediscreen respects the right of business owners to let go whomever they please. However, we respect even more the responsibility taken to ensure that any worker in that company has appropriate accommodation should they leave their care and guardianship.

There is something to the phrase that good leaders watch you work while great leaders get down in the trenches with you.

Onsite drug testing is meant to help you to determine how reliable your employees are, as far as substance abuse goes. health screening is part of a vital part of employee evaluation and retention decisions. If you don’t know what your workers are up to when they are not acting like they are right in the head, they may put someone else in danger. They may put themselves in danger and your company may be legally liable for the damages. Therefore, it is really important that you know as soon as possible after substance abuse has occurred on the jobsite. It is important that you also understand that this can be a very real danger to the rest of your employees, no matter what your own experiences may have been with substances in the past, when you were younger.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/enduring-pain/

Drug Testing and Keystone Habits

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In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg talks about how keystone habits, which are habits which have a lot of influence over other, less important habits, can be the only habits you actually work on. The result is that the keystone habits actually affect a lot of change throughout the life of the individual, much more so than non-keystone habits which may only change one or two small things about an individual’s behavior.

By exercising, reading books, not smoking, and various other habits which are keystone to each particular individual, people are able to dramatically change their lives for the better. Individuals are able to focus on just that one habit, but in turn, it changes a lot of habits around it.

Conversely, if someone has a bad keystone habit, then just that one attribute of their lives can cause widespread destruction and they can really struggle to keep their lives under control and their heads above the water. That is dangerous and it is sad. Nobody should have to live with that much pain.

Companies can have keystone habits, as well. Workplace drug testing and alcohol testing is definitely one of these keystone habits. By implementing onsite drug and alcohol screening, you are making it much easier for your business to only retain employees who matter and to only keep workers who never abuse substances while at their place of work.

This is not just a legal matter.

Setting that keystone habit affects how well protected your company assets are, how loyal your workers you keep are to you, and how safe all of your employees are on a regular daily basis. It reduces stress that is normally caused by people who have really bad habits concerning drugs and spread their unnatural attitudes among the other employees. It does a lot of things besides directly screen for drug or alcohol abuse.

Mediscreen is a company specializing in onsite drug testing. Being accredited by NATA for saliva urine testing and being one of the leading companies in Australia which offers these services, Mediscreen has made a reputation for ourselves.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/drug-testing-and-keystone-habits/

Believe in Your Workers

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Of course, we would all like to think that our bosses believe in us. We would all like to think that our employers have a certain mentoring role over us. If our bosses were our mentors, then we would never feel the need to compete with our fellow employees. If our employers were our guides, then we would never feel empty and threatened by every success of a coworker.

Naturally, being a boss yourself, you would like to help all of your employees bring their very best to the forefront of their professional career with you. 

Naturally, you would want to be your very best for them.

You don’t have to do much.

No, seriously, there is very little work that you actually have to accomplish here.

All you have to do is believe in your workers. If you are sincere about it, then it will show brightly and your workers will all know that you have this belief in them. Onsite drug and alcohol testing is part of this faithfulness as a boss.

If you are regularly screening your employees, it is not because you have no faith in them. Contrary to that, you have such faith in them that you know how much they need to be kept safe and sound. You appreciate their value so much that you will not allow a hungry wolf among all of your sheep.

That is precisely why Mediscreen has brought onsite drug testing to the forefront of the Australian business marketplace. What you need to do is to call us. Just call us. When you have us on the phone, remember all of the questions and concerns and worries and fears that you have had in the past about using onsite drug and health screening. Dump it all into our ears. Make sure that we understand you and your business extremely well.

Make sure that no question or concern goes unaddressed. Also, we are accredited by NATA for onsite testing.

This is the beginning of a whole new work life for you and your employees. Using drug and alcohol testing on a steady basis will be exactly what you need to keep things going steadily upward.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/believe-in-your-workers/

Enduring Pain

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When you accidentally cut your finger with a knife, you have a sharp moment of pain, and then some soreness while you wrap it up, and then it’s over. If, however, you break your knee, the pain coming from this will be extremely harsh, last a long time, and will rise and wane over the course of the day for the next three or four weeks.

Enduring pain is a pain in the, uh, well, you know what we mean. If you lose a loved either through a fight with them or through death, you will see that pain does not just exist in the physical realm.

Your heart can ache. Your soul can temporarily shut down while your brain and heart get together to try to heal you back up again. But, as with physical injury, all forms of pain take a little time to heal.

Workplace drug testing, especially the high quality health screening brought to you by Mediscreen, can only screen your employees for drug or alcohol abuse. It cannot prevent them from diving deeper into their psychological pain by ignoring it and attempting to cover it up.

Pain will endure for a little while, but as long as we acknowledge it and take active steps to remove it from our lives, it will be better soon. However, if we ignore it and mask it with drugs or alcohol, not only will the pain still be there when we sober up but, being ignored, it will attempt to make itself known even further.

Workplace drug testing can help you identify which of your employees may be going through this self destructive process. Mediscreen is a NATA accredited drug screening company, and we bring onsite mobile drug alcohol testing to businesses all over Australia. Our goal is to make employee alcohol testing and drug screening easy, painless, and simple to function within your business, no matter what size or status your company may be. If you would like to learn more about how drug screening can improve your company’s workforce, be sure to give us a call and ask us about our statistics showing the benefits of workplace drug testing.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/enduring-pain/

Drug Screening Test Points

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Today is a beautiful day. The weather is just as it should be, the air is crackling with purpose and live energy, and the day is progressing through its various steps in a purpose filled and determined way, intent on productivity and actual results. Today is the perfect time to contact Mediscreen about our health screening, which we bring straight to your business through our exclusive onsite drug and alcohol testing programs. There is nothing like getting up, knowing the growth in your business which today will bring, and being assured of the substance abuse (or lack thereof) status of all of your workers.

There is sunshine in your office, there is excitement on the jobsite, and you step out into the major working areas to survey all of the productivity which is busy going on there. Drug screening is regularly implemented in your company, and you feel confident with all of the results. Your employees are all following company policy, your working machines are running smoothly, and everyone is benefitting from the increased zest for the productive cycle which has come into their lives.

Workplace drug testing Australia is such a fundamental part of the process of running your business that you probably don’t think a great deal about it. It is just a necessary cog in the wheel of success and, like toilet paper or floor wax, it is just there, waiting to be used.

Not so, my friends, not so! There is much to be thankful for when it comes to drug and alcohol testing. Mediscreen is NATA accredited for onsite drug testing, and we believe in making our clientele our first priority. After all, our customer base is the bread and butter of our business! There is no reason to skimp on those good people. Mediscreen brings the quality of drug screening so high that we are always delighted to find and retain more and more customers! Everyone should stay busy doing what they love, and we love to make your business a safer and more secure place in which to work.

Drug screening test points are not given out like points are given out in a basketball game or a game of tennis. However, if they were, we are sure that Mediscreen would be racking them up! Call us today to talk to our awesome staff and to let us serve you.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/drug-screening-test-points/

Do Businesses Really Care?

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Do companies really care about what happens to their employees during the onsite drug and alcohol screening they give their employees? Mediscreen can testify that, absolutely, businesses really care about how their workers are treated and that everyone feels as if their own precious time and resources are not being wasted by their employers.

This is where mobile drug alcohol testing really comes into play here. Mediscreen is NATA accredited for onsite drug testing. We bring a whole new level of quality to your workplace environment, and we believe in the ability of you to benefit your workers as much as possible by saving both your company and your employees time on the jobsite.

What is more time consuming than every single last employee in your company traveling to a laboratory on their own time (or, worse for you, on company time), waiting in a sitting room, hoping that they will soon be out of this mess?

Furthermore, what is worse than this whole process occurring on a regular basis?

Gack! It would be unfortunate indeed if people, especially people whom you wish to respect and made to feel good within their work for you, were treated in such an inhuman way. Instead, Mediscreen has really streamlined the process by bringing onsite drug and alcohol testing to your worksite without any problem whatsoever.

That means that everyone can be screened in a timely manner. It means that no one has to take huge chunks of time out of their day or their job to go be screened by people in a cold, harsh laboratory. Instead, they can be screened in the cold, harsh workplace they are employed at every day! We’re just kidding, of course. We are sure that your business place is warm and inviting.

Furthermore, we are sure that you don’t want to pay extra costs for using Mediscreen.

With that in mind, we invite you to stop by our offices or to call us up and to schedule an appointment with our staff concerning how you would like your employees tested, when you would like the first appointment to be, and how often you would like the process to repeat itself.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/do-businesses-really-care/

The Creative versus the Competitive Planes

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In The Master Key System, by Charles Haanel, he describes the methods by which people do more than just interact with their jobs on a technical level. He describes how some people are lucky and how other people seem to always have to fight for what they want. It’s a book about how the conscious mind, subconscious mind, and formless universal energy all come into contact with each other.

In Haanel’s book, he describes how people who interact on the competitive plane, believing that there is not enough to go around, are setting themselves up for continuous failure. He says that those who work on the creative plane only find themselves in much better positions in life, with a lot more unexplained good luck thrown at them, than those who go merely by what they see with their own eyes.

When you are competing for resources, then the notion of poverty enters the mind and you are negatively affected by whatever action you take. However, if you keep in mind that everyone has enough, and hold this abundance philosophy, then you are looking for ways to make yourself more abundant creatively, rather than competitively. The results are very different from these two approaches.

It is now seen that building the quality of your business, rather than trying to subvert your competition in the business marketplace, may actually be far more effective. It is now supposed that perhaps people really would be happier if they could get past their own short term goals, and start planning for many years down the road. In this way, businesses would be strengthened by new blood, not made weaker by employee turnover. Long term visions are necessary for any company to succeed.

Get creative. Use Mediscreen on more than one of your business sites, and see how we do. If we are up to snuff, then put us to work in every branch of your company. We serve the whole nation of Australia. Onsite drug testing and health screening should come from a NATA accredited company, and it does, through Mediscreen. You are in good hands with us, and we know how to think creatively.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/the-creative-versus-the-competitive-planes/

Comfort found in Discomfort

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Comfort can be found in discomfort, and it is all a matter of time when your problems, whatever they may be, will pass, anyway. The way that comfort can be found in awkwardness, discomfort, or remotely uncomfortable situations is that discomfort is always found either when you are growing out of your old place into a new one or when you are ready to grow more and you are pushing against your old energy, seeking to find new expression and more fulfillment in your purpose. It is of primary importance that you understand that all discomfort is your ability or desire to grow past your present circumstances.

When the pressure grows to be too much within you, then changes begin to happen outside of you.

So, in all ways, there is comfort to be found in discomfort. Of course, it is much more convenient and less stressful when you know that you will be in comfort for a while, but it is not necessarily realistic, particularly if you tend to grow fast as a person.

Workplace drug testing helps to determine who in your company is abusing substances, and who is not. Drug and is available through Mediscreen, a company which is accredited by NATA for onsite drug testing services. While your business may find some employees who are not following company policy, you will still be able to move forward with your regular business operations. Just because there are a few bad apples does not mean that you can’t replace them or that the whole bushel of apples is spoilt.

By the same token, you can find this aforementioned comfort in your discomfort today. You can find peace and solitude, even if you are stressed out about something or feeling helpless or unsuccessful or incompetent in some way. Not all of you is damaged or going through a growth period. The rest of you is fine and thriving. Just focus on that part of yourself and your business, while you are getting the rest of your nature or your employees put back in their proper places. For more information about onsite drug testing.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/comfort-found-in-discomfort/

Are You Strong or are You Good?

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If you grow up in a somewhat emotionally under developed household, then you have probably been told that it is important to be strong. This idea is often perpetuated by people who do not feel strong in the inside, and therefore believe that strength is what they are missing the most.

This mentality can grow up and spread throughout various parts of your life, if you are not careful. A need to be strong all of the time makes it very difficult to see just how strong you really are. When you are able to see your own strength and your own competency, you then have better perspective on the world around you.

Then, not everything is dangerous.

Then, not everything is challenging you.

It’s a lot easier to deal with life when you KNOW that you can deal with it. Sometimes, a feeling of incompetency is all that it takes to bring someone to their knees, and eventually face down in the mud.

It’s okay to not have all of the answers. You have some of them, right? That’s all you need to move forward, and the rest of the answers will come to you, from within you, as you go along.

Today, we know that businesses fair better when they utilize workplace testing service Perth. Since Mediscreen is accredited by NATA for onsite drug testing, we recommend our company and we are proud to bring you onsite drug and health screening on a regular basis. All you have to do is schedule an appointment, and we will come to you, not you to us. Wherever your business is located in Australia, we will come to your door and screen your employees for you. If you are looking to interact with our offices, we are based in Perth, WA. This is how your company evaluates your employees and determines who to retain and who to let go or offer counseling to. Workplace drug testing is the first step in becoming both stronger and better.

If you would like to learn more about Mediscreen’s techniques or the services we offer.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/are-you-strong-or-are-you-good/

Silk Road Closed but Drug Buying Continues

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Anyone who regularly purchases illicit drugs is likely to be familiar with the term “Silk Road”. For those unfamiliar with it, Silk Road was an online black marketplace where people could buy illicit drugs like ecstasy, opioids, psychedelics, and precursors. They could also buy books, apparel, drug paraphernalia, and herbs and supplements. It began as a secret site on the “Darknet” that only people heavily involved in drugs knew how to access. It was shut down a few months ago by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for money laundering, drug trafficking, and computer hacking conspiracy.1 Now there is speculation as to where the 100,000 people around the world, who were regularly using the website, will turn in order to buy their drugs.

An Australian Problem

It is important to understand that Silk Road was taken down by U.S. law officials, but the use of the black market was not just a “U.S.” problem. Research was conducted on the awareness of Silk Road, the consumption of drugs purchased on the website, and the reasons people turned to Silk Road in the first place. Of the Australians included in the study (2,761 people), 53 percent had heard of Silk Road, compared to 65 percent in the U.S. and 40 percent in the United Kingdom. It was also reported that 7 percent of Australians surveyed had purchased drugs through Silk Road. The most common drugs purchased were MDMA, Cannabis, LSD, and the 2C family. The primary reasons Australians (and others) used Silk Road were the availability of a wider range of drugs, a higher quality of drugs, convenience, and the fact the site offered a vendor rating system.2

In October 2013, three men were charged with masterminding the website which sold illicit drugs and malicious software in addition to the other products mentioned earlier. Australians used the site regularly during the two-and-a –half years it was in operation. Assuming that Australians who used Silk Road will continue to buy, consume, and reuse the drugs they once obtained through the online black market, the question now is: Where will they go?

When the FBI documents were revealed, it was discovered that Australia was only behind the UK and the USA as the biggest source of Silk Road customers. They saved more than 75 percent of the price of drugs by purchasing them online. They could also get the drugs delivered by post. Now that their main source of drugs is shut down, where will they go? Some will go back to the streets, where there is no such thing as vendor ratings for drug dealers. Some will try to find new online sources. Since the drugs sourced in Australia costs so much more than those sold on Silk Road, there are drug users who will pool their money and buy in bulk.3

Taking New Forms

The degree of desperation to find new drug sources is directly related to the level of addiction, of course. However, the closure of Silk Road does not mean the online black market is gone. There are others like Sheep and Black Market Reloaded that have been in operation for a while. A new Silk Road is likely to appear also.

The underground websites are extremely sophisticated, using technologies like Tor that enables anonymous browsing and PGP for communications that is encrypted. Bitcoins are often used to pay for the transactions. Silk Road used all of these highly sophisticated technologies, and it is believed that it is still considered useful for anonymous buying and selling despite Silk Road’s closure. Silk Road was detected largely as a result of mistakes made by the website’s creators which enabled the FBI to locate the “Darknet” servers and hack into them.

It does not matter to employers where people obtain illicit drugs. Employers care about drug use impacting work performance and workplace safety.

However, it is important to understand what is going in the world of drug buying and selling because the more knowledge the better in the effort to maintain drug free workplaces. Consult with Mediscreen to learn more about an onsite drug testing and health screen system that can help businesses administer high quality programs.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/health-wellness/

Playing a Part in Changing a Culture of Alcohol

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Epidemic…alcohol is to blame...we need to act now…grateful for reforms…

Those are the kinds of statements heard over and over again concerning the alcohol and drug-induced fighting in Australian streets at night, largely involving youth between the ages of 14 and 24 years old. The Sydney Central Business District has been a hotspot of frequent trouble, but it is certainly not the only city or area in Australia experiencing fights, injuries, property damage, and other issues with adolescents and young adults drinking to excess. The ongoing problems have led to public calls for new regulations and laws to reduce the number of incidences. However, it will take a concerted national effort to address this problem, and employers will play a role also by adhering to zero tolerance policies in workplaces.

Raising the Price to Pay for Violence

Politicians in Sydney have approached the problem of alcohol and drug-induced violence by recommending new laws limiting club operating times and introducing mandatory minimum sentences for offences committed whilst under the influence of substances – legal or illegal. The pubs and clubs will be required to stop new customers from entering the establishment at 1:30 AM and to stop serving alcohol by 3 AM. Violators put their licenses at risk and will be subject to fees.1

In addition, reform proposals include mandatory minimum sentences for various acts. Employers do well to pay attention to the types of behaviours that will lead to harsher sentences because they reflect what can happen when people drink excessively or do drugs. Sadly, these acts have been committed by Australia’s young people and include fatal one-punch attacks, assault, wounding, sexual assault, and affray. The reforms in Sydney apply to the Central Business District Entertainment area where so much of the trouble occurs, but the reality is that substance abuse can lead to violence anywhere and at any time. In fact, there is a fear that applying the new laws to such a limited area will lead to the violence moving into neighbouring areas.

Not a Youth Problem

Binge drinking is certainly not just a “youth problem” because one in six Australians consume 11or more alcoholic drinks at a single sitting at least once a month. The St Kilda Botanical Gardens had to ban alcohol at the Australia Day celebration this year. In the past, alcohol has caused too many problems during the annual celebration and there have been increasing incidences of problems in other parks. Last New Year’s Eve, North Fitzroy Park was trashed, a Noble Park man and a police officer were assaulted, and 20 people were injured in some manner. As a result, alcohol was banned for Australia Day.2 Many employers now ban alcohol at work events for the same reason parks are doing so – to lower the risk of trouble occurring.

Social change is not always easy, but Australia is rapidly converging its attention and resources on changing the behaviour of young Australians who drink to excess. There are studies indicating that the public service announcements, increasing public awareness, and harsher penalties are leading to more adolescents and young adults being more sensible about their drinking habits. However, the statistics also indicate that 80 percent of people between the ages of 14 and 24 drink still drink harmful levels of alcohol.3

Many of these people are employed and thus more likely to show up for work with a hangover or to accumulate more days of absenteeism from weekend binges. The youthful drinking at harmful levels concerns all Australians, and employers are no exception. The drug and alcohol policy program promoting a substance free workplace is intended to keep the workplace safe, but it also helps attract job candidates interested in working in a substance free environment. The message is clear: No drinking and drugs allowed!

Mediscreen is NATA accredited and provides onsite drug testing and synthetic drug testing services. The Mediscreen team is professional, providing high quality support services, and can efficiently assist employers in their efforts to maintain zero tolerance workplaces.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/playing-a-part-in-changing-a-culture-of-alcohol/

Linking Prior Learning and Future Behaviours

onsite drug testing

One of discussions concerning workplace training on a drug and alcohol policy and testing program centres on evaluating the link between learning from the past and future behaviours. How does management know the training delivered many weeks ago is creating a culture of zero tolerance for substance use in the workplace? How does leadership know that employees are learning and retaining information on the drug and alcohol testing program and behaving in an optimal manner? Connecting the investment of resources in training and training activities to business outcomes is important because the linkages or lack of linkages tell management whether it should continue the training in its current form or restructure it to achieve greater effectivess.

Collect and Evaluate

The concept of linking training and outcomes is not new. In 2000, authors Chris Doucouliagos and Sgro Pasquale discussed this very issue in their paper “Enterprise Return on a Training Investment”. The research presented numerous case studies of Australian businesses investing in workforce training to determine the best approaches for evaluating training programs. There were four steps recommended for evaluating program effectiveness, and today’s businesses can still use it as a guide for developing a strategy to measure and evaluate drug and alcohol program training in particular.1

Determine the data necessary to evaluate training programs and techniques for performing evaluations 

Collect the data

Quantify the net gains resulting from training, including the financial costs and benefits

Develop a simple process for training evaluation, the simplest being comparing pre- and post-training data and developing a cost-benefit ratio or return on investment

Businesses can consider different levels of evaluation criteria to measure different impacts and outcomes. Applying D. L. Kirkpatrick’s model to drug and alcohol training WA programs would mean evaluating:2

Worker perceptions of the training

Improvement in knowledge of the policy, testing program, and risks of substance use

Changes in behaviours

Business outcomes and return on investment

Pre- and post-training data can be as simple or as complex as the business desires. Some companies will hire professional services to collect and evaluate data, reporting results to management. However, managers can also develop tools like employee surveys administered before and after training to measure raised awareness and to test knowledge. Business outcomes include metrics like reduced days of absenteeism, fewer sick days, fewer injuries, and so on. These outcomes have a direct financial impact on the business.

On the Right Path?

Setting goals is critical because it also determines training effectiveness. Goals need to be specific, measurable, realistic, and relevant to the workplace. Managers will also want to set a timeframe. For example, if there were 25 positive tests for drugs or alcohol last year, what is a reasonable goal for improvement in the current year? Every manager hopes no one is using substances in the workplace. However, it is unlikely, which is precisely why random drug testing program is so important.

An evaluation of the data collected can lead to none, one, or more than one change in the drug and alcohol training program. If employees learned and retained the information, and the health and safety of the workplace is improved, the current training program will continue. However, it might be necessary to improve the program by adding additional elements or changing the presentation of the program. If could be that more frequent training is needed or a new training system. Without measurement and evaluation, there is no way to know what changes to make.

The crucial point is that linking prior learning and business outcomes is important. Companies have limited resources and need to ensure that investments in training programs are productive. The only way to make that determination is through a system of measurement and evaluation. Mediscreen can become an important partner in the training effort by providing quality health screening services and workplace health and wellness assessments, providing key data for evaluation.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/linking-prior-learning-and-future-behaviours/

Coming to Agreement: Benchmarking Workplace Safety

drug testing Australia

Enterprise agreements are legally binding documents that set out the employment conditions between an employer and employees. The documents or contracts have to meet National Employment Standards and employees have to be better off because of the conditions included. One of the purposes of the enterprise agreement is to focus attention on particularly important issues concerning workplace health and safety. It is no surprise policies on alcohol and drugs, alcohol and drug testing, and benchmarking are three of the typical topics included among others like clean air, risk assessment, protective clothing, and many others.1

What does benchmarking have to do with a drug and alcohol policy? There is a direct and proven relationship between using drugs and alcohol in the workplace and the level of workplace safety and lost productivity. The Australian Drug foundation estimates that workplace substance use costs businesses more than $5.2 billion a year. Employers develop drug and alcohol policies, institute random and for-cause testing programs, and develop enterprise agreements to minimise those costs. Benchmarking is a way to measure the effectiveness of the policies, procedures, and agreements.

Measuring Up

Benchmarking is a bit like goal setting because it provides standards against which actual results can be measured. Developing a policy is important, but the employer needs to know that the implementation of the policy is effective. That is the purpose of benchmarking. For example, it may answer the question: How does a company measure up against industry performance or specific competitors in terms of employee turnover? The enterprise agreement can set benchmarks also but from the perspective of what the employer and employees agree are acceptable results in identified processes. The “agreement” metrics are based on self-analysis of the business processes and of other companies.

Ideally, benchmarking promotes preventive approaches to workplace health and safety. It is an ongoing process that sets standards, measures performance against standards, and leads to process revisions as necessary. For example, a benchmark is set for the number of positive drug and alcohol test results in a department or division that does regular hazardous work. If the results exceed the benchmark, the testing program needs revision, i.e. more frequent testing. However, just as importantly the employer knows to strengthen training and development, change job assignments, re-assess hazard policies, or take any of a number of steps to improve results.

When benchmarking drug and alcohol programs, the employer will look at priority areas that include organizational culture, risk identification, work practices, investigation of incidents connected to drugs and alcohol, and pre-employment processes.2 Concerning the last factor, if a department has a high safety risk and there are incidents involving substance use, the employer will want to add pre-employment drug and alcohol testing. The employer can benchmark a number of factors concerning the effectiveness of a drug and alcohol policy. They include the following as examples:

Absenteeism due to workers entering rehabilitation or counselling programs

Absenteeism due to workers sent home as a result of positive drug or alcohol tests

Lost time injury days due to substance-use related accidents per an established 

number of man hours

Leave without pay per the work days in a pay period

Employee awareness of the drug and alcohol policy as measured through 

regular employee surveys

Number of safety violations

Deepening Commitments to Health and Safety

In the enterprise agreement, the employer and employees agree to drug and alcohol testing and compliance expectations. It indicates who will be tested and the accredited testing company managing the screenings. It also addresses the actions that will be taken should workers test positive once, twice, or more often.

If approached correctly, benchmarking can deepen the commitment of managers and workers to maintaining a healthy and safe workplace. It also makes health and safety a component of general management systems and reporting systems. Both of these end goals apply to the drug and alcohol programs. Management needs employees committed to maintaining a substance free workplace and the confidence that the drug and alcohol program is effective.

Mediscreen is a NATA accredited provider of onsite drug and health screening services. Trained sample collectors provide professional services that assist employers in their efforts to maintain the health and safety of their workers.

This article has been taken from: http://www.mediscreen.net.au/coming-to-agreement-benchmarking-workplace-safety/