www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
IN TODAY’S GUARDIAN
Guardian
Ashburton
www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
Friday, April 12, 2013
One in 15 locals fail drug tests One in 15 workers tested in Mid Canterbury failed drug tests last year. Figures from the New Zealand Drug Detection Agency (NZDDA) reveal the failure rate of agencyconducted tests in Ashburton last year was 6.5 per cent – slightly above the national average. The testing agency also revealed that the dairying sector featured prominently among the positive tests. The NZDDA conducts specialised on-site tests when asked to by employers, with a failed result showing 15 nanograms/ ml set substance rate or more in the laboratory. The limit does not measure impairment, but concludes if the employee is at risk. NZDDA general manager Russell Scott said the agency did not conduct all the testing in Mid Canterbury, and the figures were “only scratching the surface”. “There’s a lot of naivety with drug use, a lot of people get used to the concept that it is something that you do in your own time and think ‘I’m not at risk’,” Mr Scott said. “Unfortunately they are a risk, the drugs stay in the system longer than one might think although they are not stoned or appear affected.” The agency provides testing for several industry sectors, including transport, manufacturing and dairying – all vital to the Mid Canterbury economy. However, NZDDA does not conduct testing for local freezing work companies. Mr Scott said a lot of the agency’s testing in Mid Canterbury was carried out in the dairying sector, with “a large proportion” of failed test results coming from local farms. The Guardian could not reach
CAROLINE’S CADDYING SKILLS PUT TO THE TEST p21
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
By Myles Hume
THE VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY 24/7
spokespeople in the dairying sector yesterday. CMP Canterbury recruitment manager for the Anzco Group Sharon McDonald said the meatworks company had seen several failed drug tests when screening workers at the interview stage or who showed signs of impairment. Recruitment drives in the North Island have astounded Ms McDonald, with one drive seeing 60 per cent of potential employees failing a drug test, despite prior warnings by CMP Canterbury staff that they would be tested. With a national fail rate of six per cent in the freezing works sector, she said Mid Canterbury was no different. “We would love to employ locally, people in Mid Canterbury say we don’t have a problem, but it definitely is a problem here.” Under the Health and Safety Act 1992, employers must ensure they provide a safe work place for their employees. “If they show any impairment, yes we can carry out a drug test because it becomes a health and safety issue. We have knives and other dangerous equipment so we have to keep our workers safe,” Ms McDonald said. Philip Wareing Ltd, based in Methven, has a fleet of trucks and a host of drivers. The company regularly carries out random drug tests, particularly on the company’s logging truck drivers. Operations manager Simon Wareing said the company had only been faced with two failed tests. “I guess that says they are generally behaving well, obviously you don’t want any but two out of God knows how many isn’t too bad,” Mr Wareing said. NZDDA tested for opiates, benzodiazepine, cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamines, THC and some synthetic drugs.
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Big weekend lined up for old-timers
Ian Lowe cranks his vintage Fowler crawler into life ahead of an action-packed weekend. By Linda Clarke “Have you heard one of these start up,” Paul Demouth asks as he helps take the strops off a 1952 Fowler crawler tractor sitting on a truck backed up to a loading bay at Peter Butterick’s Wakanui farm. Come the weekend, vintage machinery enthusiasts will be poring over the Fowler Mark VF British diesel engine and some
540 other old machines from the past. The Mid Canterbury Vintage Machinery Club is celebrating 30 years with a Wheat and Wheels Rally. The Fowler belongs to Ian Lowe. It’s a pet tractor; kept mostly for hobby but occasionally called in to do some hard slog on the farm. Paul and English mate Tom Harwood were helping Ian unload the beast yesterday. Ian cranked it into life and it putt-
putted noisily off the truck and into its spot on the exhibition line. Ian bought it 10 years ago, to complement three Marshall wheel tractors he also owns. They were all built between 1948 and 1952 and Ian keeps them ticking over. He says the crawler was an agricultural workhorse in its day, hauling heavy loads over soggy ground without risk of getting stuck. “They were pretty
photo kirsty CLAY 110413-kc-051
reliable machines.” The Wheat and Wheels Rally is only the second time the crawler has been off the farm. Tom, who moved here from England in 2004, has spent plenty of time on crawler tractors and relishes the chance to work it on the Lowe farm. “It is nice when Ian puts me in the field and I can go up and down. I am in my own little world.” The Butterick farm on
Christys Road will be a world of vintage and farm machinery, with some very modern tractors also on display to help people see how technology has changed a farmer’s working day. Rally organisers have spent two years planning the event and have grown wheat and potato crops that will be harvested by the old machines so people can see how it was once done.
Local property market cools in March
Drug test failures in Mid Canterbury are above the national average.
March might have been a stellar month for real estate sales nationally, but Ashburton’s property market went quiet. After a strong February where the median sales price topped $315,000 and 49 properties changed hands, sales dipped in March, dropping to a median of $286,000 over 44 sales. Nationally, REINZ figures show, house sales were up 23 per cent in March over February and 11 per cent up on the same
month last year. This made it the largest sales month since May 2007. In Ashburton the number of sales for the month was up 11 per cent on February but down 30 per cent on the same month last year. The number of days it took to sell a property, however, dropped, down to 27 from 30 last month and 56 in March 2012. REINZ regional director Tony McPherson said Canterbury’s
market was notable for the shortage of listings. He anticipates this will continue to be a problem over coming months. “There is steady demand from first home buyers and investors at the lower end of the market, that’s where there’s steady activity.” Canterbury’s market was led by growth in sales volumes in Christchurch city and South Canterbury. Nationally there were 8128
unconditional residential sales in March, an increase of 10.9 per cent on the same time last year. Auckland and Canterbury/ Westland both recorded new record highs in March, with the Canterbury Westland median price for the month coming in at $359,000. During March there were 492 houses sold for more than $1 million but the bulk of sales, 49.7 per cent were achieved at under $400,000
Tony McPherson
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