TIPS TO FIGHT DRUG USE

New Zealand's Forestry Industry Is To Be Advised Against Using Random Testing As The Main Weapon Against Drug And Alcohol Abuse Among Workers

Guidance to be issued to the industry tomorrow says education and rehabilitation should be the central planks of programmes to stamp out drug and alcohol use.

The advice is contained in a tool kit developed in partnership between the forestry industry and ACC in response to growing alarm at the number of workers using drugs, particularly cannabis, at work and the implications for safety and investment.

The kit will be handed out at the national conference of the Forest Owners Association and the Forest Industries Council in Auckland.

Fletcher Forests health, safety and environment manager Jeff Weber, who chairs an industry safety taskforce, said the kit advised against using heavy-handed tactics.

"Random testing is in there as an option, but it is a fair way down because all the research shows that on its own, it is the one programme that simply does not work," he said.

The best way to combat drug abuse was to educate workers about the dangers.