Staff drug tests ‘dreadful’
News
A council’s proposal to introduce random drug tests for all staff is a dangerous and dreadful idea, the New Zealand Drug Foundation says.
Central Hawke’s Bay District Council’s executive team will decide whether to adopt the policy at the end of May, with chief executive Monique Davidson saying it was taking a ‘‘proactive safety initiative’’ to discourage alcohol and drug use.
But the Drug Foundation’s executive director Ross Bell questioned whether it could be implemented.
A landmark Employment Court case, which allowed Air New Zealand to test its staff in 2004, found random tests for nonsafety-critical areas could not be justified, he said. As the council was proposing it for all staff, there was a question over whether such a policy could be adopted.
‘‘Then there’s a bigger issue about what is the problem they are trying to address, and whether random drug testing is going to solve the problem ... we have real doubts over the effectiveness.’’
The Drug Foundation recommended workplaces avoid random testing, because it was a ‘‘dreadful’’ and ‘‘ineffective’’ way to create a good health and safety-focused work culture.
Davidson said the council had purposely taken a wider view, by ‘‘not simply looking to follow council practices within our region, but rather to be leader in driving a proactive safety culture’’.
Only one of the other four Hawke’s Bay councils had a random drug test policy.
Napier City Council spokeswoman Fiona Fraser said it introduced its policy in April 2017 after union consultation.
The council undertook random testing ‘‘periodically on randomly selected employees as a deterrent to substance misuse’’.
Four staff had been temporarily suspended on full pay after returning an initial non-negative test, while awaiting a confirmed result. There had been no terminations as a result of the policy, and staff had been provided with ‘‘appropriate professional support’’ without punitive sanctions being imposed.
Bell said random testing created ‘‘real mistrust’’ and ‘‘really undermine[s] a workplace culture because it does create a lot of fear’’.
‘‘If the council is wanting to create an environment where impairment in the workplace isn’t tolerated, they aren’t going to achieve that through this policy. Where is the education, where is the support?’’