Supporters say giving employers the power to conduct random testing of staff will make the workplace safer.
Family First MLC, Dennis Hood, says more people are now getting caught drug driving, so it makes sense to introduce workplace drug tasting as part of legislation currently before State Parliament:
(5AA 10am/1pm) “What we found was that more people are detected for illegal drug use driving cars on our roads than are people that are under the influence of alcohol and that was quite surprising to me. And the obvious question that has to be asked; well if that’s the case on our roads, why wouldn’t that also be the case in our workplaces?”
(5AA 12noon) “If someone is under the influence of drugs, whether they be prescription drugs or whether they be illicit drugs, then they’re not really in a condition to be operate particularly heavy machinery or any sort of vehicle or anything of that nature or whatever.”
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(Byner: The Commonwealth Government is presently seeking national uniform workplace safety laws. I suspect that all of us are very much in favour of measures to increase workplace safety. To achieve this .. they have to get legislation passed in each of the State Parliaments … In addition to this … another issue that’s come to light with respect to the debate on workplace health and safety which needs addressing. Whilst the Bill before our State Parliament is touted as seeking to improve workplace safety it ignores a very significant and growing issue in the workplace safety – the effect of drug use in the workplace … the current proposal does not adequately address the issue of random drug testing by employers. Now, while this will not be necessary in many workplaces, there are some areas where drugs are of concern, where heavy equipment or motor vehicles are operated by workers, employers should have the right to require random drug testing by non-invasive means, I’m informed that urine testing is currently the most accurate method available and should be used in preference to other less decisive methods such as saliva testing. Now a Family First FOI of Police Stats shows that for drug and alcohol tests of drivers, the rate of positive results was greater – and in some instances much greater – for drugs than for alcohol and we found out recently that Australia and New Zealand are the two countries with some of the highest rate of cannabis use in the world but we ignore this when it comes to the workplace. Now, whilst the effects of drug use are not an issue in many workplaces, one MP is arguing that if we’re serious about safety in the workplace then it is really essential that we actually address this sooner rather than later. Dennis Hood … explain your rationale …)
… I think it’s an almost obvious point … when Family First did that FOI to the Police Force, seeking some figures, comparing how many people were picked up for driving … under the influence … of alcohol compared to drug use, what we found was that more people are detected for illegal drug use driving cars on our roads than are people under the influence of alcohol … that was quite surprising to me and the obvious question that has to be asked: if that’s the case on our roads, why wouldn't that also be the case in our workplaces and you can’t help thinking when you’re looking at the sort of Bill that’s before our Parliament at the moment, that the Commonwealth Government is pushing through the State Parliament … if we’re really serious about safety in the workplace then surely we should be looking at this issue of drug testing in the workplace as well … The reality is … that the Bill that we’ve been looking at in the Parliament for some time deals with a lot of very, very minor things, some major issues as well, but a lot of very, very minor issues but the elephant in the room … if someone is under the influence of drugs … they’re not really in a condition to be operating particularly heavy machinery or any sort of vehicle … if we’re serious about workplace safety then surely we’d have to be looking at this issue and particularly with respect to people in those sorts of jobs … there’s been no mention of that … no discussion of that whatsoever … under this Bill we talk about ladder heights and those sorts of things … some level of importance but surely it’s not the height of the ladder that’s the problem it’s the condition the person’s in when they get on the ladder, that’s the real problem.
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Back to Dennis Hood
(Byner: …what do you say…)
There are costs involved but of course there are very substantial costs involved in implementing this sort of legislation and the question comes down to: how serious are we about workplace safety … if there’s somebody in a workplace … and they’re under the influence of any form of drug then obviously they pose a risk, not just to themselves … but to people doing the right thing in that workplace … I’ve had contact with people that work in very large industrial facilities that are aware of people using drugs “socially” … on the weekend … that work in those places … are we to assume that those people are never, ever under the influence of drugs in those workplaces? I think that’s naïve, frankly. I certainly don’t want to be imposing costs on business … what we need to do though is create a situation where if we’re really serious about workplace safety – that’s what this Bill is really about, we want to improve safety – how can we ignore the elephant in the room of people not of sound mind operating heavy machinery, driving equipment … I’m not saying that this Bill should be amended to include workplace safety but I think it’s time for a debate on this issue, I’ve got no quibble with the Minister saying that all of the parties didn’t feel it was worth going down this path and I can understand their reasons – it will cost money. But the truth is … it will … almost certainly lives and could ultimately save money in the end. I think it’s a debate that the Parliament needs to have. It’s one of those things that may be deemed as put in the too hard basket. Maybe we don’t want to know what we’ll find if we go down this path but I think it’s time we did.
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