New rules mean aviation companies will need to get to grips with drug and alcohol management plans. Photo / Jeffrey Rotman, Biosphoto, AFP
More workplaces are finding staff using opiates, according to a drug tester who says new drug and alcohol rules for aviation are about to kick in.
The Civil Aviation Act took effect earlier this year and aims to strengthen drug and alcohol management across the sector.
The chief executive of The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), Glenn Dobson, said the best way for businesses to save money on drug- and booze-testing regimes was to do it right first time.
“Trying to save a dollar here can be really costly in the long term if you do it wrong legally.”
Airlines cutting corners have landed in legal trouble recently – Qantas in Australia for sacking workers during Covid and its stablemate Jetstar in New Zealand for misleading customers about compensation entitlements.
“It’s really important that employees know their rights,” Dobson said.
He said there was no point for managers to treat it as a box-ticking exercise and then not follow the company’s own policy.
“A policy should be reviewed at least every couple of years. I’d even go so far as to say annually.”
Dobson said drug abuse trends were changing.
“A long time ago we had the first introduction in methamphetamine”, which was a scourge across many industries, he said.
“In the last six months, in the wastewater stats and our own TDDA stats, we’ve seen an increase in meth right across the country.”
But he added: “We’re starting to see an increase in opiate detection.”
This increase mirrored some trends abroad in increased oxycodone and fentanyl use.
“From a supply perspective, it’s easier for the drug cartels to make supposedly synthetic opioids than to grow cannabis. Smaller quantities are easier to ship and secrete,” Dobson said.
“Do we see much of heroin in New Zealand these days? No we don’t.”
And we haven’t since the days of Mr Asia, he added.
Some debate emerged in July when KiwiRail banned 2500 workers from using melatonin and Zopiclone.
“It’s up to the company or the industry as to what they see might be a hazard,” Dobson said.
“There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of drugs out there. It’s simply impossible to test for every kind.”
He said big airlines often had their own medical staff who could advise on parameters for appropriate alcohol use.
“Larger aviation suppliers we deal with, or are aware of, certainly test their pilots and flight crew.”
Dobson expected travellers would be happy to know airlines were testing staff for drugs.
“Any airline operator that has a good, robust drug and alcohol plan in place should be shouting it off the rooftops.”
Paul Jarvie, Employers & Manufacturers Association (EMA) employment relations and safety manager, said any company setting up a drug and alcohol testing policy should immediately seek professional advice.
“It is wound up in legalese and protocols and systems. And employers cannot do it ad hoc. They’re just [setting] themselves up for so much potential liability. You need to be in for the long haul so you need a good business case.”
Jarvie said safety-sensitive roles were the ones employers most often wanted to test.
“There are some companies who may have got into it years ago, but the world’s changed in and around them. In some locations, drug usage is so high that to get staff who are clean is almost impossible.”
Jarvie said managers worried about drug use should also look out for employee mood changes or substantial changes in behaviour.
Aviation Industry Association (AIANZ) chief executive Simon Wallace said his organisation was not opposed to drug and alcohol management plans.
“In this case, having a robust drug and alcohol management policy is good for a business, it’s good for their reputation.”
Wallace said aviation and tourism operators could benefit from good policies in this area.
The new act introduced drug and alcohol management plans for parts of the aviation sector, and these have to be in place by April 5, 2027.
In the two-year transition period, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will consider drug and alcohol management plans.
Drug and alcohol management plan operators included general, agricultural and adventure aviation companies.
The first submission deadline is at the end of this month.
Each drug and alcohol management plan must set out how the operator will carry out random drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive workers.
It must also have protocols for dealing with non-negative results, refusals to test and how ongoing education and training will be provided for staff and supervisors.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation and courts. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.