This is the reality for many of the region's police officers such as Senior Constable Adam Piffarelli when they are confronted by people high on ice.

READ MORE: Emergency department nurse has experienced the risks first-hand

But it's not just emergency service personnel who are forced to deal with the scourge of ice use in the workplace - so too are health and hospitality workers and taxi drivers, just to name a few.

At least once a week Snr Const Piffarelli attends an incident where someone is high on ice and he said it is a danger not only for the user, but also his fellow officers and bystanders.

READ MORE: The special inquiry into the drug ice visits the region

Ice users act erratically, they're often scratching at their faces and arms and you can hear them grinding their teeth, he said.

"They've often got scabs and sores up their arms and on their faces and you'll see a lot of black around their lips and their teeth look corroded," Snr Const Piffarelli said.

"They're volatile and unpredictable."

Snr Const Piffarelli is also the Police Association of NSW (PANSW) Orange Branch chair and he is aware of incidents where an officer has been injured by an ice user in the line of duty.

Recently in Orange, a police officer's hand was bitten so hard by an ice user that bones were broken and the officer is now on light duties.

The problem for officers, Snr Const Piffarelli said, is that ice gives users a superhuman strength and high endurance.

"It's like their pain receptors have been turned off," he said.

"The regular techniques [of dealing with a violent offender] may not be as effective and it can definitely be confronting."

PANSW research manager Angus Skinner was recently called to give evidence at the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug Ice which was held in Dubbo.

He said police officers attended 39,000 mental health related incidents last year and a number of those were for amphetamine type stimulant users.

He told the Inquiry that users had a "superhuman strength" and aggression and this presented a significant risk for the safety of police.

"They're more likely to attempt to assault the police officers; their strength means that that assault is more likely to have high consequences," he said.

"GO on, I'll take you on."

These words were screamed at taxi driver Mark Pana recently by a passenger he suspects was high on ice.

In the six months he has been driving taxis in Bathurst, passengers on ice have been verbally abusive to him and he fears that one day it may be physical abuse.

As soon as they jump in his cab, Mr Pana said he can tell they are ice-affected.

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"They talk way faster than anybody else. They're just running their mouth off. They're on a different wavelength to everyone else ... you can't interact with them," he said.

"It's non-stop talking and fidgeting, moving so quickly - I feel nervous and chilled to the core."

Mr Pana has had three incidents of ice-affected people in his taxi - they have all been female, sat in the front seat of the cab and have acted like the "ringleader" of their group.

Midway through a recent fare, he alleges that one of those women became verbally abusive.

"She says 'I'm not going to pay that much, I'm just going to pay $15, I don't give an [expletive]'," he said.

"It's like they're almost trying to get a reaction out of you ... they will explode for any reason."

Mr Pana said when he threatened to stop the cab then and there, the verbal abuse worsened.

"She starts swearing her head off and saying 'go on, I'll take you on'," he said.

Once he stopped the cab the abuse continued.

"She gets out of the cab and walks over to my window and she's going to have a go at me," he said.

"Her friend picks her up and walks her away.

"It's just out-of-control aggression."

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