https://www.miningweekly.com

Routine testing will deter drug use and improve safety, productivity

24th July 2015

By: Schalk Burger

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

Font size: - +

Routine drug testing on mining sites is an effective deterrent to habitual and casual drug use, which improves the safety of workers and their productivity, says drug-testing company ALCO-Safe director Rhys Evans.

A simple six-drug screening panel tests for the common illicit drugs of amphetamines, cannabis, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines, as well as benzodiazepine compounds, which are generally used in prescription anxiety medication and commonly abused.

New drugs, such as Nyaope, a mixture of low-grade heroin often cut with anticoagulant compounds (typically rat poison) or prescription antiretroviral medication, and Tik, a methamphetamine-based drug cocktail, will also be detected when using this test.

ALCO-Safe notes that mines in Africa tend to prefer the ten-drug panel tests, which tests for four other readily available and commonly abused prescription medications.

“Mines in South Africa typically use six-panel tests, but, while some mines implement routine drug screening, most mines still tend to conduct ad hoc tests if there is reasonable suspicion about a person’s behaviour or after an accident.

“The testing kits are cheap and effective ways of ensuring that workers know there is a high probability of being tested, which discourages them from abusing substances before work or regularly. Screening improves safety of the workers, and reduces risks to their co-workers,” he explains.

The disposable test kits use urine samples to test for specific substances and compounds on site and can be administered by clinic staff or trained health officers.

Drug-screening tests and self-disclosure of prescribed medication enable mines to effectively manage workers’ health, balanced against the safety of their workers and that of the workplace, as required by law.

Less invasive testing methods, such as saliva testing, are being used more often, which do not require bathrooms or gender-specific health officers to perform the tests. However, saliva provides a very short window of detection after use, as it generally detects substances used only within the past 24 hours.

“Saliva testing, while less cumbersome, will mostly detect only habitual users, and might not detect casual users.”

Hair follicle testing is common in the UK, but is considered invasive, since it entails cutting about 30 strands of hair close to the scalp. Such testing is effective to demonstrate habitual and historical drug use, but not as a screen for sobriety, on which mines focus.

Evans says urine testing provides a medium- length window of detection and, while it does require trained staff, is reasonably easy to administrate.

“Mines should use routine drug-screening tests to develop a database of test results to determine the effectiveness of drug-combating initiatives or education programmes,” he notes, adding that this database will enable them to compare money spent to the results of these initiatives, and then work with the relevant actors to mitigate abuse.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION