'It needs to be a living document that needs to be reviewed regularly'
Drug and alcohol policies in workplaces need to be a "living document" in the wake of shifting trends in drug accessibility and case law in New Zealand.
This is according to Glenn Dobson, chief executive officer of The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), who said drug and alcohol policies shouldn't be one of those documents that are just read once and put away to collect dust for years.
"It needs to be a living document that needs to be reviewed regularly because the drug testing environment is a dynamic field, it changes a lot," Dobson told HRD.
He cited case law as an example of what can impact the drug-testing environment.
"It always changes how the ERA (Employment Relations Authority) approaches certain things, so making sure to check if the policy is in line with current law is just absolutely vital."
There are also emerging challenges with drug availability in New Zealand. The TDDA recently released its first-ever Imperans Report, which offers a glimpse of the drug-related trends that the agency detects during drug testing.
It revealed that THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, remained the most common substance detected in New Zealand workplaces, accounting for 72.9% of cases.
"THC or cannabis has long been the most detected drug in drug testing for many, many years, and it's no secret that New Zealanders are high users of cannabis," Dobson said.
But over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in medical cannabis being prescribed, and an evolution of the type of medicinal cannabis that has been in distribution.
"Previously, it was CBD (cannabidiol) products that were being prescribed, with CBD being a component of cannabis but not psychoactive. Whereas now, a lot of the prescriptions tend to lean towards THC products," he said.
THC is a compound found in cannabis that is responsible for the "high" sensation. It has the ability to affect memory, pleasure, coordination, and time perception, according to Live Science.
"Unfortunately… when combined with a safety-sensitive workplace [it] creates a danger in the workplace," Dobson said.
Opioid detection was also significant, according to the Imperans Report, with a 12.9% detection rate. The Mayo Clinic referred to it as a broad group of pain-relieving medicines that work on the brain.
"A lot of opioids are… legitimately prescribed prescription painkillers," Dobson said. "The real problem is in relation to opioid overuse and over-prescription."
To address these trends, employers have to go back to their drug and alcohol policy, according to the TDDA CEO.
"Because that sets the foundation for what the company wants the workers to follow, but also sets the mandate for the company to be able to look after workers," he said.
Employment New Zealand said that not every employer needs to test employees for alcohol or other drugs part of managing their health and safety risks.
Dobson said such policies have long been focused on blue-collar workers, or organisations with safety-sensitive sites or safety-sensitive functions.
However, they've been noticing that "a lot more white-collar and what's probably considered more professional services are also implementing drug and alcohol testing as well."
"From The Drug Detection Agency's perspective, it's advisable that each employer has a drug and alcohol testing policy in place, but the more important question is who is being tested or who falls under the rules and procedures under their drug and alcohol policy," he said.
"It really sits around the culture of the company and what they're trying to achieve. But certainly, what it comes down to is creating a safe workplace where employers really value their employees and their ability to do their work without the risk of being injured and being able to get home to their families at the end of the day."
But given the evolving case law, enforcing the drug and alcohol testing policy can be another challenge. Dobson advised employers to "stick" to their policy.
"If your policy says, ‘We must do ABC’ every time you do a drug test, then make sure you do an ABC no matter what because that's where a lot of the challenges come from in employment courts," he said.
"[The challenge with remediation] is that the policy says ‘XYZ’ and the employer doesn't follow their own policy and then that creates a lot of distrust and it creates a lot of challenges around the process itself."
The other advice that Dobson offered is to "correctly" carry out drug testing.
"If it's done poorly, it creates more risks in the workplace. I strongly suggest that as part of the policy, it needs to be accredited drug testing. So that's accredited testing delivered by companies that are accredited to do it," he stated.
