By CASEY NEILL
ICE use is on the rise in Greater Dandenong workplaces.
Rob Foran’s The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA) franchise has been operating in Dandenong North since January.
He said cannabis was still the number one illicit drug.
“Unfortunately methamphetamine or ice is becoming more prevalent in our testing,” he said.
“It’s on the increase.”
Mr Foran completes drug and alcohol testing for companies with safety-sensitive staff roles, such as warehousing, manufacturing, transport and construction.
“On top of that we do policy development, education and training sessions,” he said.
“Managers need to be across it in more detail. They need to maybe be aware of signs that staff could be using drugs at work or could be affected and come to work in an unfit state.”
Mr Foran conducts oral testing using swabs – “much like mobile police but it searches for a few more drugs”.
“We also do urine testing,” he said.
“Whatever testing we do is conducted in the mobile vans we have.”
TDDA also does hair testing “which gives a longer detection time”.
“It can go back 12 months in the drug history,” Mr Foran said.
Mr Foran liaises with his client when a worker returns a positive test result.
“By that stage there’ll be a policy set in place,” he said.
“It’s very rare these days you find someone sacked off the back of one positive result.
“We always suggest assistance first.”
He said Greater Dandenong wasn’t really a hot-spot for workplace drug use.
“From the stats that I see, Dandenong isn’t glaringly obviously bad,” he said.
“We can find clusters of problems in a particular workplace.
“You might find a number of people using drugs because there’s a dealer in the workplace.
“That can happen everywhere.
“Workplace is just a reflection of society.”
Mr Foran tests for prescription drugs, too.
“The one that we specifically test for is known as benzodiazepine,” he said.
“They’re prescription-only but we occasionally find people who abuse them like any prescription medication.
“Benzos can be quite dangerous in the workplace – if someone’s drowsy and they’re using machinery, there’s a risk around that.”
TDDA can also test for methamphetamine laboratories.
“We can go into a residence that may have been used for methamphetamine production and we can swab walls and other surfaces,” he said.
Landlords or real estate agents usually utilise the service.
“The residual chemicals can be quite a health concern,” he said.
