MEDIA RELEASE 25 February 2008
Workshop educates Brisbane businesses about drug use in the workplace
Drug and alcohol testing and screening specialist Frontline Diagnostics will
hold a workshop on Tuesday, 18 March in Breakfast Creek to educate employers and
managers about the prevalence and impact of drugs at work and how to develop
policies to ensure a drug-safe workplace.
The morning Drug-Safe workshop, designed for business owners and managers as
well as Occupational Health & Safety managers, will be held at The Pavilion on
Allan Border Field in Breakfast Creek.
The workshop will feature a number of speakers including Frontline Diagnostics
Managing Director Michael White, legal expert Steven Gavagna from Goodman Law
and toxicologist from Inverness Medical, Andrew Leibie (a specialist in
identifying the effects of drugs in the body).
Michael White established Frontline Diagnostics in 1999 to provide Australian
industry with a complete solution for the detection, management and control of
alcohol and other drugs in the workplace.
"Most managers are oblivious to drug use and drug impairment at work. It's not
easy to monitor the presence of drugs at work, yet 70 per cent of drug users in
Australia are employed. Organisations need to remember that a reputation for
drug use will kill a business just as fast as it will kill a drug user," White
said.
"The upcoming workshop will focus on a number of areas including how to develop
and implement a drug and alcohol policy; training managers and teaching
employees about company policy; differences between the types of drug testing
available; how Frontline Diagnostics can screen your entire workplace for the
presence of drugs and finally, how to structure an effective random drug testing
program for employees," he said.
White said Frontline Diagnostics got astounding results when establishing a drug
screening program with a series of mines in the Hunter region.
"We ran 7,000 tests in a year and at the beginning, 17 per cent of the mines
staff tested positive to our drug and alcohol screening. By the end of the 12
months, only 1.8 per cent tested positive. This is a huge decrease," he said.
Michael White has experienced first-hand how drug use can be overlooked in the
workplace and the damaging consequences.
"Prior to setting up Frontline Diagnostics I worked with a business partner in
pharmaceutical promotions for 15 years. We had a great working relationship and
I was unaware that he was a heroin addict until he overdosed and passed away
after 12 years of using the drug," White said.
"It was then that I decided I wanted to work towards creating a drug-safe
Australia. Using my background in pharmaceuticals, I started Frontline
Diagnostics to provide a testing and screening service as well as assistance in
policy development for companies to lessen the impact of drug and alcohol use in
the workplace," he added.
The Drug-Safe workshop will be held on Tuesday, 18 March at The Pavilion on
Allan Border Field, 1 Bogan Street, Breakfast Creek, from 7:30 to 11 am and
costs $65 (breakfast included). Attendees have until Friday, 14 March to
register by visiting
www.frontlinediagnostics.com.au.
The series of workshops will also be held in Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra,
Wollongong and Melbourne throughout 2008.
Frontline Diagnostics services include complete drug screening and testing with
results analysis and comprehensive reporting; policy development support for
regulating alcohol and other drugs at the workplace; education workshops and
training; purpose-built mobile clinics plus referral to accredited employee
assistance providers.
Frontline Diagnostics is also a founding member of the Drug-Safe Australia
Foundation.
To register to the workshops or for more information about Frontline
Diagnostics, visit
www.frontlinediagnostics.com.au or call 1800 888 852.
Released for Frontline Diagnostics by Dennis Rutzou Public Relations (www.drpr.com.au)
For further information please call Kim Larochelle or Nicola Rutzou on (02) 9413
4244.
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