Quality vs. Quantity Time

Quality time is especially defined by personal enjoyment of the time spent on something or with someone. Quality does not, in perfectly logical terms, have to involve deep meaningful conversation. It can be simply bonding together over sex or enjoying a football game together. Quality time becomes very subjective between two partners or between business associates who are trying to make a deal. In fact, the very definition of a power breakfast or power lunch is that in which everyone gets the highest quality for the time spent in discussion.

So, in the business, world, what are the real differences between quality and quantity time? The purpose of quantity time, how much time you spend in association with a partner or company, will affect how solid their reputation is over a certain period of time. If their products or services show consistency or value and if their company shows stability and good management, this is an indication of their quality. Their quality measurement increases as this consistency and value persists.

This means that the quality-quantity ratio has very real interconnections and that you cannot really separate the two. Whenever the question of either arises, your first question should be, “Are we being consistent?” After consistency is evaluated and found to be even, then you can move on to the safety of your staff, then the efficiency of your operations, and end with the quality of your end product or service.

In other words, even the quality is affected by deeper roots and attitudes. In order to keep these attitudes straight and parallel, you may need to implement or step up your workplace drug testing. Employees should feel as if they are working in a safe, secure environment, and this is especially true in high hazard industries. Protocol absolutely must be followed. Investment absolutely must be made. Your employees are the life blood of your company, and their safety equals the safety of your company. Drug screening, particularly onsite drug and alcohol screening, really creates a framework within which to build a good solid set of safety rules.

Drug Abuse in Aviation

Aviation lends itself to getting away with a lot, especially if you travel for your job. Abuse is less noticed, and substance abuse can easily be covered up, since not everyone with whom you work will be able to discern unnatural or inconsistent behavior in you. In aviation, you can get away with a lot more illicit behavior if you travel for your career. However, this will not always be the case, since you can easily have drug and alcohol testing leveraged at you. Employee drug and alcohol screening is especially important to implement in high hazard industries such as aviation, because in many high hazard industries, drug and alcohol testing is a requirement. Mediscreen simply makes the whole process so much easier by offering onsite drug and alcohol screening. Onsite testing means that you are tested and evaluated at your place of work, and then any suspicious samples are taken by to the lab for further examination. It is really as simple as that.

There are other dangers to drug abuse at high altitudes than just the effects which can occur at normal altitudes. Your body may be affected in specific ways, such as respiratory function, ability to maintain balance and coordination in a moving aircraft, and the ability to hold down food and liquids. Also, your sense of coordination and reality may be really affected by mixing higher concentrations of oxygen with your drug of choice. There are many ways of going about experiencing this process. None of them are safe, and anyone who is in control of passengers’ safety will easily find themselves putting many lives in danger from this practice. This does not just include the pilot, but anyone who works on or in or outside of the aircraft. Regular maintenance and testing are part of passenger safety, too.

Mediscreen provides onsite drug and alcohol testing for companies all over Australia. We love our job, and we love what we are able to do for the environment. Our testing procedures are cleaner, simpler, more cost effective, and more time efficient. We believe in getting it right the first time.

Deep in Denial

Denial is a very dangerous place to be in. Denial can mask the truth and can mask signs of danger or of trouble up ahead. It can warp perception as bad as any alcohol, and it can create a desire for escape, just as much as any drug withdrawal. Denial can be deadly. Denial can breed fear.

In the workplace environment, you must be able to see and accept truth and reality. Not doing so can cost you your job, your income, your perception, your promotion, your successful relationships, and your own peace of mind. Often, sniveling groveling doormat employees who are in denial about the responsibilities which they should be taking pride in find themselves with very little peace of mind. Denial can rob you of your peace. Employees who are overly aggressive or domineering may tell themselves that they are keeping their environment efficient and making more money for the company, when in fact they are intimidating and frightening other employees. Denial can create hatred, bitterness, and resentment in otherwise productive environments.

Unfortunately, substance abuse can increase denial in anyone. One of the reasons why employees are tested for drugs and alcohol is that they can fall deeper into denial and believe things which they know in their hearts to not be true, and vice versa. Denial can not only destroy employee-employer relationships, but it can greatly affect coworker relationships. Taking personal responsibility for your actions is something that nobody really wants to do, but it makes your world a lot more tolerable.

Denial is a disease, but it is a disease of the psyche. One cannot exactly go to a pharmacy and obtain a drug prescription for it. This is why it is so important to understand it and fight it off as soon as it appears. The ability to engage with reality is the hallmark of some of the best employees.

Drug screening is necessary in order to help keep denial at bay. Drug and alcohol testing is quite effective in treating denial, depression, and the inability to cope. How is it a treatment? Onsite drug and alcohol screening can be instrumental in helping you take personal responsibility for your life.

Alcohol testing: Safety in Travel

Many companies are franchises or they have multiple offices all over a country or area. When this is the case, executives must travel from location to location, seeing to matters of importance and making sure that managers and subordinates are doing their jobs in the best possible way. Also, there is a need to update information and modus operandi in order to stay competitive with other businesses which are in the same industry…or even in the same area.

When your executives and other levels of employees are traveling from place to place, it is important to make sure that there is a certain amount of consistency in what they encounter. A business is built by reputation and it is necessary to keep each location operating by a certain standard. Workplace drug testing helps to keep the employees and the level of quality of their work at a minimum standard which you can set. It is the ability of someone in your position to take the clay and mold it a little. Each branch of the company does not have to be cookie cutter identical to all the rest, but it certainly helps to have a minimum standard of quality. When you are implementing drug alcohol testing for your business, remember to take into account differences in areas, populations, number of employees, and potentially dangerous neighborhoods, all of which may contribute to how often you decide to have each franchise tested. While the work itself may be the same, the surrounding neighborhoods and therefore the surrounding influences are very different.

When any of your employees are traveling, they should find a safe haven in other branches of your company. They should find something recognizable. Workplace drug testing helps to eliminate the potential for disparity between employees in different areas. It helps to maintain consistency, and consistency is one thing which many growing businesses have difficulty in maintaining.

Onsite drug and alcohol screening is not just reserved for questionable individuals. It is a standard practice, used by many companies to make sure that their employees are safe and that their assets are protected. 

Onsite Drug & Alcohol Testing: Time or Money

You will either spend time or money when you are interacting with the consumer market or investing in the business market. Time will save you money, and money will save you time. It is rare that you will find a situation in which both money and time can be saved. Onsite drug & alcohol testing services will save you time, because you will not be spending it on scheduling laboratory drug testing for your employees and your employees will not have to take time off of work or take personal time of their own in order to travel to the laboratory to become tested. Laboratory testing will cost your employees either way, and can cost both you and your employees money if they have to take time off of work to get this done.


Mediscreen saves you money by providing onsite drug and alcohol screening services to all businesses all over Australia. Whether you are a small business with just a few employees or a large company with hundreds of employees, they will need to be tested, and Mediscreen offers competitive pricing on our services when we come to your jobsite. Mediscreen is focused on providing the best drug screening services at the best prices and at the best location: your own workplace. This means that you do not have to leave the office or the jobsite in order to be tested, you can save money on the operation because you are not paying for time away from work and you are not paying laboratory expenses, and it is convenient and effective for your employees.


If you have to spend time or money on something, which would you choose? You can save money by spending more time on a project, but your time is valuable, especially if you have a family waiting at home for you or friends with whom you spend your free time. You can save time by spending more money, but this cuts into company savings and emergency funds, and can deprive your employees of expected income for a week, income which provides for their homes and food and families, too. With Mediscreen, you have both time and money at your disposal, not to mention effectively tested employees working for you.

Returning to Work after a Move

Whether an employee is transferred to your division or they have just moved in to the area and have begun working for you, it is a good idea to understand (or remember) the mechanics of moving and how this affects their working relationships. For example, if someone is only seeking temporary employment until they find a better job or receive a better position within your company, they may forget that a strongly positive reference from a local employer may help them both in the short run and in the long run.

Employee drug & alcohol testing is for a specific purpose: to determine which of your employees may be showing up to work under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs and to provide legal documentation of how many instances where this has been tested positive. There are many reasons why an employee may be moving and not all of them are pure causes. Not only is it a good idea to double check references from newly arrived employees, but it is a good idea establish what their reputation is in an interview when they first arrive or apply for the job. On the one hand, you want to give newcomers a warm welcome to your area and help make them feel at home and loved and appreciated. On the other hand, you want to make sure that your generosity is not being put forth in vain and that your newly acquired resources are right for their job position.

Unfortunately, employees who have a negative track record with drugs or alcohol may move simply to get a new start, but not necessarily to change their previous behavior. Even with the best of intentions, out of town arrivals are still often stressed out and overwhelmed by the process and enormous responsibility of moving, and their best laid plans may not be enough to keep them from returning to their former behavior. After all, it may be the only thing that is familiar to them when they arrive in their new place. This is why alcohol drug testing and job histories are so important to make sure that new arrivals are up to snuff. 

The High Cost of Not Doing Workplace Alcohol and Drug Testing

There is no arguing the fact that workplace drug testing can be controversial as people raise privacy issues. Should the employer be able to figure out that an employee used cannabis 2 days ago? Is it fair to force people to submit to an alcohol or drug test when they prefer not to? Clearly, more and more employers and government agencies are instituting random drug test programs because they believe the answer to these questions is “yes”. Even more court cases are being settled in favour of employers enforcing testing of employees for substance use to ensure workplace safety, and state and territory laws are becoming more supportive of testing for a variety of employee groups. For employers, the real issue is the high cost associated with not doing alcohol drug testing in the workplace.

Recently it was reported in the Lancet medical journal that Australia and New Zealand populations have the highest rate of cannabis usage at 10 to 15 percent and the highest usage rate of other drugs like speed and crystal methamphetamine at 2.8 percent. Professor Wayne Hall with the University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research was quoted as saying, “Among the most common harms were drug dependence, overdose deaths, accidents, violence, HIV-AIDS and other blood borne infections.

Testing Costs Are Low Compared to Costs of Not Testing

Each one of these harms and a lot of others can directly impact an employer’s bottom line. Many discussions about workplace drug testing focus on managing the direct costs like the cost of testing equipment or the labour cost of program administration. However, the low cost of today’s effective drug testing equipment and certified laboratory testing can be dwarfed by the cost of not testing and not knowing the status of substance use and abuse in the workplace.

• Estimates gleaned from Australian and USA studies indicate alcohol may contribute to approximately 5 percent of work related fatalities

• When sued in court, an employer without an alcohol and drug testing program can be found in breach of the general duty, required by law to provide a safe workplace, if someone is injured due to the use of alcohol or drugs by co-workers

• Worker turnover leads to high tangible and intangible costs associated with employee replacement that include the costs of recruiting and training, and the loss of the exiting employee’s skills, training, knowledge, expertise; empirical data indicates that lost productivity accounts for two-thirds of total turnover costs

• Cost of reduced job performance by substance abuser requiring co-workers to either re-do work or fill in for employee using alcohol or drugs

• Cost of lost productivity through job withdrawal behaviours like taking long lunch breaks, sneaking extra breaks, spending time on non work related activities and sleeping on the job

A 2008 report on the costs of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use identified quantifiable tangible costs for households, businesses and the government. The following statistics for 2004/2005 were reported for businesses:

Costs of lower productivity in the workplace due to alcohol consumption is estimated to be at least $3.6 billion due to alcohol and $1.6 billion due to illicit drugs

• Costs of absenteeism as those who drink alcohol are 1.2 times more likely to be absent from work compared to those who don’t drink

• Employees are 3 times more likely to be injured leading to increased workers’ compensation and disability claims

• Health insurance and workers’ compensation costs soar due to increased medical and hospital expenses of $192 million related to drugs and alcohol

• Vehicle accidents lead to workplace disruption costs plus associated legal, vehicle and insurance expenses costing businesses $576 million

• Increased workplace criminal activity like theft costing over $1.4 billion

The total annual tangible costs to business associated with alcohol misuse were over $5.6 billion. The costs for illicit drug abuse were $3.2 billion. However, it is impossible to measure the full costs of alcohol and drug use in the workplace. For example, how do you measure the real cost of an employee trying to work under the additional stress of completing job duties with a co-worker who is under the influence of a substance?

The cost of employee alcohol and illicit substance use in the workplace runs into the billions of dollars each year. The cost of not instituting alcohol and drug testing is simply too expensive to forego. Mediscreen at offers high quality flexible Onsite drug and alcohol screening services that can help you contain the potentially high cost of employee substance abuse.