Drug testing “cowboys” are threatening to undermine the effectiveness of compulsory drug testing in the Australian construction industry, according to national drug testing company SafeWork Laboratories.

Mr Andrew Leibie, a medical scientist and SafeWork Laboratories’ National Marketing Director, said new compulsory drug testing legislation came into effect at the start of February and generally applied to all projects that attracted federal funding of more than $5 million.

“Unlike the drug testing legislation which covers the Australian rail and mining sectors, drug testers for the construction sector do not have to be accredited,” he said.

“We have already had reports that inexperienced operators with little to no drug testing expertise are offering to conduct testing using previously unheard of drug testing kits, often purchased over the internet.

“This could be problematic as the range and amount of drugs tested for in the US, for example, is quite different to those in the relevant Australian standards.
“Even worse, there are echoes of the pink bats scheme from several years ago and like the pink bats scheme, it could also result in fatalities.

“All it takes is for a drug affected worker not to be detected as a result of a poorly conducted test or a misreading of the results and then be allowed to operate heavy machinery on a construction site which results in a worker being killed.”

Mr Leibie said using unaccredited testers also increased the risks of false positives where an unaffected worker was unjustly accused of having drugs in their system and prevented from working.

He said either scenario could result in severe legal consequences for the construction company which ordered the tests.

Mr Leibie said all accredited testers were listed on the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) website.

“Each state has a number of accredited testing organisations, so the construction companies have a good selection to choose from without having to use unaccredited backyarders looking to take advantage of the current situation,” he said.

“We also call on the Federal Government to amend the legislation as quickly as possible to ensure this loophole is plugged.”

SafeWork Laboratories was formed in 2012 and is now Australia’s most advanced drug testing provider, with state-of-the-art analysis capable of detecting an extensive range of illicit compounds, including synthetic drugs and new age substances. Many of these have previously only been detectable in police forensic labs.

Mr Leibie said SafeWork offered hair, saliva and urine testing with results back within 24 hours.