NINE PER CENT OF WORKERS TEST POSITIVE FOR DRUGS - ESR

Nine per cent of random drug tests on workers by the Institute of
Environmental Science and Research (ESR) prove positive.

ESR scientist and client manager Sue Nolan said the Crown Research
Institute undertook drug testing programmes for more than 400
companies at more than 700 sites.

Such programmes were highlighted by a landmark Employment Court ruling
on Tuesday giving Air New Zealand the right to drug test some workers.

ESR workplace drug testing programme manager Shellie Turner said that,
along with the nine per cent of positive random tests, eight per cent
of pre-employment drug tests were also positive.

Statistics from current drug testing indicated 27 per cent of tests
were positive when carried out on workers after industrial accidents
or when companies believed an employee was behaving in a way
consistent with drug use, she said.

Ms Nolan said the most common drug detected was cannabis, while
testing in the past 12 to 18 months had found an increase of the drug
P.

It was expecting increased interest in its workplace programmes as a
result of the Air New Zealand ruling.

The judgment, which specifically referred to the ESR, was an
endorsement of the institute's drug testing methodology and analysis,
Ms Nolan said. The institute was the only New Zealand organisation
with specific accreditation for workplace drug testing under New
Zealand and Australian standards.

"The most common industries are forestry, fishing, dairy, transport,
power and roading, mining and the poultry and meat industries but we
also do testing for such diverse industries and enterprises as
personnel and legal firms," she said.

The Air New Zealand decision allows random testing of workers in
safety-sensitive areas, pre-employment testing, tests of workers
suspected of taking drugs whose behaviour is, or could be, harmful,
and tests of workers involved in an accident or near miss. It does not
allow random testing across the board.

The ESR said 45 of the companies involved in testing were from the top
of the South Island, most from the forestry industry.

Transport and construction companies were also among those likely to
use workplace testing in the area and the number doing so was
gradually increasing.

Marlborough Road Transport Association chairman Tony Duncan said there
appeared to be a move toward such testing across the transport
industry, which he supported.

"I think it's coming that we will have to write some sort of testing
(regime) into employment contracts as there's a real move towards
becoming more safety conscious."

Mr Duncan said smaller transport companies in Marlborough were less
likely to test employees because they tended to know their staff
better. "But for larger companies who employ more staff, it is
definitely a safety issue and I believe there are some in Marlborough
which do test for drug and alcohol use now."