Is it the Flu or Drugs?

Urine Drug Test

An employee complains he is not feeling well, and the symptoms include a dry cough, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, a headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, and a flushed face due. An employee complains she is not feeling well, and the symptoms include cough, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, a headache, stuffy nose, sore throat, and a flushed face. It may be the first employee has influenza and should go home to recover. The second person may be using drugs like heroin or cocaine and needs rehabilitation services. How is the employer going to tell the difference between an employee with the flu and one using drugs or alcohol?

The symptoms mentioned are common when someone has the flu. Even after recovering from the flu, the fatigue and cough can linger. To prevent the spread of the flu, the person is advised to stay home, drink fluids, and take over-the-counter medications.1 A person with the flu or recovering from the flu may experience anxiety, nervousness, irritability, sweating, shakiness, loss of appetite, and others. A person using illicit drugs needs to stop using them. However, there will be symptoms of withdrawal if the person has used the drugs or alcohol for an extended period of time. For example, people withdrawing from cannabis can experience common symptoms of irritability, nervousness, anxiety, loss of appetite, sleep difficulties, shakiness, sweating, and others.2

Never Jump to Conclusions

Unfortunately, it is impossible to just look at someone and determine the person is on drugs. Often, the flu symptoms and the symptoms of drug use are nearly identical. Employers who jump to conclusions without evidence are setting themselves up for a Fair Work Australia claim, though it may take the form of accusations of discrimination, employer retribution for some reason, and so on. It is just one of the many protections employers get through fairly administered random and for-cause drug and alcohol test. However, it is important to remember that the random testing must be truly random. If there is for-cause testing, the reasons for administering the test must be carefully documented.

There are some differences between the symptoms flu and drug use, but they are mostly behavioural. A worker who has the flu will not get it every month and so will not call in sick every month. Employers will see typical behaviour patterns in chronic drug and alcohol users. Employees using substances frequently call in sick on Monday mornings after a weekend of partying or bingeing. They may frequently call in sick, giving a different excuse each time. Work productivity will decline for longer than a few days. A worker who is sick may not be productive whilst getting sick or recovering but will eventually return to full productivity. That is not necessarily true of a drug or alcohol user or abuser.

The Truth is in the Testing

Whilst an employer would not hesitate to tell someone with the flu to “go home,” the employer has a greater dilemma if substance use is suspected. For-cause drug and alcohol testing is usually justified when someone acts erratically, presents a clearly presents a safety risk, or admits to using substances. The ideal way to identify employees who are using substances is through the random drug and alcohol testing program.

It may not be possible to easily identify flu symptoms versus symptoms of drug use. However, it is very easy to randomly test employees for drugs and alcohol using the high-quality saliva drug testing supplies and breathalyser offered by CMM Technology. The random testing program should be one component of a broader workforce health and wellness program. The reality is that employers want workers who are healthy and safe, meaning they do not have the flu and are not using illicit drugs or alcohol.

This article has been taken from: http://www.cmm.com.au/articles/is-it-the-flu-or-drugs/

Employee Drug Testing and Giving Space

Giving space is something that only a few people know how to do very well. When you have a forceful personality, like the author of this article, it is easy to simply get your way and move the forces of the company through nothing but your own personality.

Giving space to employees who need it is an art form, since some of them thrive on pressure and some of them thrive on creative license. Sometimes, it is about external and internal motivations. You cannot know how each individual employee will react to what you do, and it is very important to give space when space needs to be given.

It can free up a worker’s mind so that they get the job done three times as fast.

When such is not the case, they can feel cramped, bitterness or resentment, while the work is not getting done as fast as it could be, and while their freedom of movement and spirit are not being accommodated. After all, if you are in the flow of things at a job where you excel, you do not need such things as constant supervision or someone micro managing what you are doing.

The balance occurs when you realize what and how your subordinates are thinking, and you are able to match their concentration and understand their process of working. If you understand your worker, then you are far more likely to give them the room they need to go through their sometimes slow, sometimes methodical, but always thorough process.

CMM Technology helps you prepare your employees to be fit for duty. Employee drug testing is meant to weed out anyone who may be bringing down the productivity, morale, or safety protocol for any given business. That is why drug testing is even required by law in some industries. It is more important to have a safe workplace than an erratic one. Try our Lifeloc FC10 breathalyser devices, as well as our breathalyser recalibration service for any equipment you may already have and be using. And to learn how you can get drug test kits with built in adulterant tests, call CMM Technology today. 

 This article has been taken from http://cmm.com.au/articles/2013/employee-drug-testing-and-giving-space/

Easy Distribution Channels

CMM Technology distributes drug test equipment, such as our ToxSure saliva drug test and our Medix integrated pro-split cup 6+6, all over Australia. We carry our own alcohol breathalyser devices, like our Lifeloc FC10 device, and we also have a breathalyser recalibration service, which services even alcohol test equipment which you may already have.

Easy distribution channels make our products flow quickly and freely to all parts of Australia which may need or desire them. CMM Technology strives to provide businesses all over this great country of ours with top quality testing equipment. When this equipment is used, we feel that the drug testing industry as a whole has been strengthened. When you are looking for a test with a built in adulterant test, if you are looking for a line of equipment to supplement your employee drug testing, or if you are just looking to try new technological advances in screening equipment, you are in the right place.

For years, CMM Technology has contributed some of the best equipment available to the Australian market, and companies all over this country have eagerly snatched up our products and services, looking for a high quality service and searching for even better products than the ones they were using previously.

It is so important to state here that CMM Technology devotes itself to distribution and customer service. No matter how large or small your business is, we will be here to add value to it, sure as not.

It is so interesting how many individual are affected by our products, and how much service has changed the face of the drug screening industry. We mark our lines of easy distribution channels by seeing how much in demand our particular brand of quality is. At CMM Technology, we want to bring you the best so that you can do the most with your business. Let us show you how easy it can be with our user friendly drug test equipment. No one does it quite like we do. We are proud of our name and we are proud of our reputation. 

This article has been taken from http://cmm.com.au/articles/2013/easy-distribution-channels/

Drug Test Equipment and Outer Space

You would think that drug test equipment is only used on the earth. However, even astronauts are required to be extensively tested and to have extensive background checks performed on them before they are sent out into space in special situations, such as to a space station. It is of primary importance to see to it that they not only avoid endangering their own lives, but also the lives of their fellow astronauts…not to mention the billions of dollars worth of equipment which is being protected by them.

This is, of course, a huge responsibility. This is a lot of power for a few people to hold at one time in their lives, and they are required to work together in order to make the experience, which can last for months, a successful one.

In other words, drug testing can make or break a climbing career for a space jumper.

When dealing with drug test equipment, it is necessary to remember that humans are fallible and will not just take failure lying down. They want to have control over their lives, and if they cannot get this control over an addiction they may have, they will at least attempt to gain control over the urine drug test which is given to them. That is why an adulterant test is built right in to our Medix integrated pro-split cup 6+6, and which is why our other products, like our ToxSure saliva drug test, are so popular as well. After all, you must be able to control who is in charge of your important equipment, and who is not.

Drug testing is invaluable in this respect, because it is not based upon someone else’s opinion or a boss who is “out to get you.” Instead, scientific data must be super accurate, so that it does not trigger a false positive and ruin someone’s career unnecessarily, or trigger a false negative, and allow someone into power who cannot handle the pressure and responsibility. For more information on how to purchase our drug test equipment, visit our website or call CMM Technology today. 

This article has been taken from http://cmm.com.au/articles/2013/drug-test-equipment-and-outer-space/

Drug Screening and Easy Access

Isn’t it nice to have access to local pharmacies which allow you to use all kinds of headache medication, cough medicine, pain tablets, back soreness pills, and everything else under the sun without even needing to visit a doctor first? The ease of access of many seemingly harmless drugs makes the process of taking illicit drugs seem so much less dangerous. After all, if you have seen your parent taking drugs during the day growing up, and if you have had to take a fair amount of medication as a child when you were sick, things like heroin and crack do not seem like that big of a deal. You know what “drugs” mean. You know that it means something safe and good for you.

When your friends begin by downing cough medicine because of the methamphetamines in it, it does not seem like such a big deal. Then, they move on to pot, or marijuana, and they get to you try other things, like opium, or speed. It’s like a science experiment. There’s no wrong answer. It’s all just fun and games. No big deal.

It still doesn’t feel like a big deal when you get the urge to come back for more.

… At CMM Technology, we understand how easy access can make even full grown adults susceptible to very primal urges to feel good, feel better, and then feel the best. We understand how necessary it is to use employee drug testing as part of your regular business maintenance, and we know how important cost reduction is to you. We may not have the cheapest drug test kits and alcohol breathalyser devices around, but we do have the best ones. Our ToxSure saliva drug test and our drug test equipment with built in adulterant tests are top of the line. We know you’ll love doing business with us. We know that you will find our products to be strong, steady and reliable.

Not only are illicit drugs abused, but legal drugs are also abused a great deal. Alcohol can be consumed to get your spirits up before going to work. Do not let employees like this stay on with you. 

This article has been taken from http://cmm.com.au/articles/2013/drug-screening-and-easy-access/

Drinking Can Cause Fires

Alcohol is already a very flammable substance. When performing acts for the benefit of an audience, fire breathers often drink alcohol and then blow their breath near an open flame in order to appear as if they are blowing fire out of their mouths. Employee drug testing does not have to be this dangerous or this tricky, though. Saliva drug tests, urine drug tests, and alcohol breathalyser devices are all part of the drug test equipment which CMM Technology distributes throughout Australia. For breathalysers you are still using, we have a high quality breathalyser recalibration service.

Of course, all of this is meant to enable and encourage safety and respect while on the jobsite. This safety is compromised when a basic small office party or worksite celebration is set on fire due to all of the alcohol present and someone’s carelessness. The company is liable for the damage, since the fire was caused by an employee of your business. It is so important, therefore, that even in small, controlled celebrations, you have hired employees who know how to control themselves in the presence of alcohol. The only way to make sure of this is to use regular employee drug testing and breathalyser screening in order to make sure that your workers are in control of themselves all of the rest of the time. We are not suggesting that you are ultra-uptight about the process, or even that you should relax your drug testing standards for a while. Rather, we are stating that workers who exercise self control are more likely to prevent an accidental fire than ones who are used to allowing themselves more freedom than is reasonable while intoxicated or while in the presence of professional coworkers and clients.

A line, at some point, must be drawn, after all.

Try our oral fluid drug test and our breathalyser recalibration service so that you can get an overall view of how CMM Technology can make your workplace safer and more manageable all at the same time. You love your employees and the growth of your company. This is love by respecting their safety and protecting their assets in the business. Call CMM Technology today to order your drug test equipment. 

This article has been taken from http://cmm.com.au/articles/2013/drinking-can-cause-fires/

Doing Good Work in Bad Times

When you are busy gathering all of your resources to do good work, things like emotional upheavals, personal business, and coworker trouble can really mess you up concerning all of your good intentions to do your high quality job tasks.

Well, there is a way around this. Of course, no one is truly adapted to separating their minds from their emotions except as a survival skill, so unless you grew up in a dangerous home or you have dealt with a lot of people who engage in substance abuse in your life you will probably not like the way this separation feels.

However, the separation of the mind and the emotions is a necessary survival skill on the jobsite, for sure. There is no way around it. You cannot accomplish what you need to accomplish in your professional life if you are not able to turn off your emotions and adopt an unemotional, but still sincere, professional demeanor. This keeps work from affecting your personal life and it keeps you sane during your major working hours. It also helps regulate your own emotions so that you can easily adapt to new and formidable pressures, and so that you can take all of this with equanimity and freedom of emotion yourself.

Employee drug testing helps you to do good work in bad times. You see, when employees are required to be fit for duty and they must pass their screening tests to be considered so, you will find that they will raise their expected level of performance…or their function will fall more sharply. By setting the standard higher, you are requiring that your workers either make the cut or leave. Alcohol tests and drug testing are perfect for setting this minimum level of professional behavior, though as likely as not, you will also have standard company policies governing other forms of behavior.

Now, when you are administering your urine drug tests and alcohol breathalyser devices, remember that we here at CMM Technology will provide you with a breathalyser recalibration service and that we sell high quality drug test kits, too. 

This article has been taken from http://cmm.com.au/articles/2013/doing-good-work-in-bad-times/