Screen for Safety in Mining

Drug and alcohol abuse is a problem in any workplace but is a particular risk in the Australian mining and resources sector. This can be due to remote and isolated working conditions, irregular hours, FIFO (fly in fly out) working arrangements and the healthy pay packets of mining personnel – all factors conducive to illicit drug use and excessive drinking on and off site.

The safety implications of drug and alcohol misuse in an Australian mining setting cannot be overstated – it elevates workplace risk on a mine site where there is already a heightened risk due to remote and harsh environments, mining activities and the heavy machinery used to undertake mining activities. Which is why drug and alcohol screening is essential to the health and safety of the Australian mining workplace.

While breathalysers might be deployed at mine sites to detect blood alcohol levels, identifying drug use is best achieved with urine screening.

Urine is the most used specimen for drug and alcohol abuse testing. This is because urine is readily available in sizeable quantities and will contain high concentrations of parent drugs and metabolites. However, not all urine drug tests are equal in terms of their effectiveness and timeliness. It’s important that employers consider the screening process before making their testing solution selection.

Key challenges in mining drug screening

The key challenge Australian mining organisations face when it comes to conducting urine drug and alcohol testing, is to test efficiently onsite to gain rapid, reliable results.

Often one aspect of this criteria cannot be achieved without compromising another. For example, employers might be able to conduct testing quickly but may not attain accurate results, or testing might prove complicated for those being tested. Significantly, it might not be viable for a mining employer to send employee urine samples to a city laboratory for testing when the turnaround on results exceeds 24 hours or even a number of days.

Another core problem with urine testing is that samples are extremely susceptible to tampering such as dilution of the urine or the use of an adulterant. This can make tampering a tempting option for those undergoing a test.

The Thermo Fisher Scientific MicroScreen 2 and Microscreen 2 Plus urine drug and alcohol screening cups have been designed with these challenges specifically in mind. Compliant with the Australia and New Zealand Drug Standards AS/NZS4308:2008, these easy-to-use, rapid testing kits, provide reliable results in 5 to 10 minutes.

A primary benefit of the Microscreen 2 cup testing kits is that they have been designed to minimise the risk of tampering. Firstly – unlike other devices on the market – the person undergoing the test does not handle the testing panel component of the test at all, reducing their ability to tamper with the results. Additionally, the testing panel and collection cup are supplied with tamper-evident packaging and have in-built temperature and adulteration panels – all of which will indicate if a person has tampered with their sample.

Significantly, as the Microscreen 2 and Microscreen 2 Plus urine screening tests eliminate any manual handling of the specimen, it means there is also a reduced risk of sample contamination.

The testing procedure with Thermo Fisher Scientific MicroScreen 2 urine screen cups is achieved in four simple steps:

1. Participant receives MicroScreen 2 cup component and collects sample
2. Temperature is recorded and verified to be within range
3. Test panel lid is attached to the cup with collected sample, ensuring correct alignment to prevent leakage.
4. The entire device is tilted on its side to process results. Results can be read after 5 minutes.

The MicroScreen 2 urine screening cup tests for six drugs of abuse: amphetamines, methamphetamines, benzodiazepines, opiates, cocaine and THC (cannabis). While the MicroScreen 2 plus tests for the same six drugs plus oxycodone and ethyl glucuronide, a marker for recent alcohol ingestion.

For more information on the MicroScreen urine screening cups for drug and alcohol screening, please visit thermofisher.com/microscreen2

The MicroScreen 2 is included on the ARTG (Ref: 370490) and independently validated for clinical use. The MicroScreen 2 Plus is for workplace testing and forensic use only © 2023 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific and its subsidiaries unless otherwise specified.