read it and weep

This article in today's press certainly contradicts the Board's (self-protecting) assertions that they were seriously impacted by the international recession!

Check the link to Integrity Sampling - and wonder why the dilly-dallying, unfocussed incompetents on SBN's board did not use the $2.5m to finesse the marketability of their product offerings.

They were not shy of constantly telling us about Oraline's competitive advantages. So why did this advantage not translate into the apparent success that a supposedly 'inferior' product has had in their own backyard?

Why were they too foolish not to spend the $400,000 earmarked for plant automation (and subsequent quality assurance improvement) to ENSURE that they could meet client (SiYi etc) expectations and compete head on with the likes of Cozart?

The simple answer is that they ARE fools and thereby probably find it difficult to avoid being foolish.


More workers caught as drug tests increase

Eamonn Duff and Joshua Jennings

June 14, 2009

WORKPLACE drug screening has increased greatly over the past year, and up to a third of job applicants in some industries have returned positive tests.

The drug screening company Integrity Sampling said its workload had quadrupled.

The NSW managing director, Ian Jameson, said: "More firms are choosing to do it. In recent times the results have been frightening."

On average, 5 per cent of employees at each company had traditionally tested positive to drugs. However, over the past year that figure has almost doubled.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority will introduce regulations this month to randomly test its workforce of up to 120,000 people.

Mr Jameson said the finance sector had also jumped on board.

Statistics had revealed a worrying shift in drug trends, he said.

"Historically, the highest detected drug was always cannabis. It has now been replaced by methamphetamine, which includes ecstasy, speed and ice . . . all extremely addictive and destructive. In Sydney, methamphetamine and cocaine use is on the rise, and it looks set to continue during the hard times."

The transport company Linfox conducts about 8500 random drug tests each year as part of its Vision Zero policy.

In 2007, 31 per cent of applicants for drivers' jobs failed a pre-employment drug test.

Widespread drug use has also been detected across rural-based businesses including among fruit pickers, 30 per cent of job hopefuls failing pre-employment saliva drug tests with one Riverina company.

Saliva tests are not the only option for workplace testing. New technology can determine an employee's level of impairment by measuring how a person's eyes react to light. It can also determine whether impairment is due to drugs, alcohol, medication, fatigue and sleep deprivation.

Anne O'Rourke, the vice-president of the civil liberties group Liberty Victoria, said she was unconvinced about the grounds for supporting widespread testing. [email protected]


Link to Integrity Sampling:

http://integritysampling.com.au/