Page 14 - MPA

Drugs & alcohol Testing
The Hidden Impacts on Your Plumbing Business
A prevailing amendment – drug and alcohol testing will now be mandatory on construction sites.
The effects of drug and alcohol use
Alcohol and other drug issues in the workplace can be expensive, disruptive and difficult to manage. Drugs and alcohol are involved in 25% of workplace accidents and 10% of workplace deaths.
Alcohol is the most widely used psychoactive (mood-changing) recreational drug in Australia. But other drug use is on the rise. Approximately 7% of Australian’s have reported they have used methamphetamine in their lifetime.
Alcohol and drug misuse can impact workplaces, with significant negative impacts on:
• Workplace safety
• Productivity
• Worker general health and wellbeing
The effects drugs and alcohol has on users include:
• Impairment of co-ordination
• Impairment of judgement
• Slows reaction times
• Impairment of decision making ability
• Decreased intellectual capacity
• Effect work performance
• Perceived anger to themselves and others
These effects can have huge implications on workplace safety, especially if the work involves operating heavy machinery or driving a vehicle.
What does that mean for the Plumbing industry?
As an employer, the WHS Act 2012 requires businesses to take all reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of workers, and any other people who may be affected by the operations of the workplace.
As a worker, responsibilities include:
• Looking after their own health and safety, and the health and safety of others
• Working in a safe manner, without risk to themselves or others
• Follow all reasonable safety instructions from supervisors or
managers
• Not intentionally or recklessly interfere with, or misuse anything provided at the workplace in the interests of health, safety or welfare
The building and construction industry is a high-risk industry. There are risks associated with:
• The use of heavy machinery
• The use of mobile equipment
• Working in congested areas
• Working from heights
All of which can be accentuated by the effects of alcohol and drug use In the case that a plumbing business has not implemented a drug and alcohol policy in their workplace, workers will still be subject to drug and alcohol testing, under the principal contractor’s work health and safety policies.
By undertaking a site induction, workers may be unknowingly accepting to be drug and alcohol tested at any time. Under Australian Standards, as a minimum, the following substances can be tested for:
• Alcohol
• Opiates
• THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol/cannabis)
• Cocaine
• Benzodiazepines
• Amphetamine
• Methamphetamine
If workers return positive results, the principal contractor can immediately remove them from site and prevent them from re-entering, until it can be proven the worker is fit for work.
This can have significant cost and work schedule ramifications to plumbing businesses. Not to mention potential loss of future income should the principal contractor choose not to engage with the business for future work.
If a business has had issues with drugs and alcohol in the workplace in the past, and wants to perform tests on workers, they must firstly have a strong policy in place.
Any testing needs to be random, not discriminate and apply to all workers, including management. It is important to ensure any test are undertaken by a company certified to Australian standards and results remain confidential.
Where to from here?
The overall culture in a workplace can play a crucial role in drug and alcohol use and related behaviours. By creating a workplace culture where expectations are clear, promotes low risk drinking and non-drug use, and where individuals feel supported to raise issues, the harms which may impact the workplace and workers, may be reduced.
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