Four of Australia’s leading experts on substance abuse in the workforce will headline a unique workshop for the mining and resources sector later this month in Western Australia. They are: Professor Steve Allsop, Director at the National Drug Research Institute; Dr Charles Appleton, Director of Biochemistry and Technology at Queensland Medical Laboratories; Leigh Cleary, Senior Project Officer with the Drug and Alcohol Office in Western Australia, and Simon Ridge, Acting Executive Director, and State Mining Engineer – Resources Safety, with the WA Department of Mines and Petroleum.The one-day workshop – being held at the Technology Park Function Centre in Bentley, Perth, on Thursday, July 12 – has been organised by the Mining and Resource Contractors Safety Association (MARCSTA).

MARCSTA Chief Executive Officer Pat Gilroy said: “We are delighted to have secured the participation of one of Australia’s leading drug researchers, Professor Steve Allsop, to co-ordinate the workshop. He will lead the comprehensive program to provide a full understanding and appreciation of the rapidly escalating epidemic of drug usage in the community, and how this might translate to workplace risk for miners.”

“The full extent of this risk in the resources boom was recently high-lighted by arrests in a case of alleged urine sample substitution in drug testing at Port Hedland.

“This workshop is a ‘must’ for any Occupational Health and Safety professional currently employed in the national mining and resources industry.

“Substance abuse in the general workplace continues to increase, and there are some very disturbing statistics emerging globally about the effects such abuse can cause,” he said. “Not only does the abuse have the potential to cause death and/or serious injury, but there is also a financial toll/impost on business.

“Most substance abusers are employed, and the importance of being fully-informed on the identification, treatment and management of persons afflicted, is becoming increasingly recognised as a workplace health and safety concern.”

Topics to be discussed at the workshop include:

• Patterns of drug use in the community and how this might translate to workplace risk
• Models of drug use and their relevance to the workplace
• Rationale for responding to drug abuse in the workplace
• Evidence about the range of strategies for response
• Designing a response for your workplace
• The role of government, services available and treatment options
• The status of drug testing methodologies
• Small group exercise to develop future options for workplace management.

For more information about the workshop, visit the MARCSTA website at: http://www.marcsta.com.au/