Drug & Alcohol Policy Agreed For Construction Workers

In a first for the construction sector, a union and a major employer have agreed on a policy for dealing with drug and alcohol impairment at work, Council of Trade Unions secretary Carol Beaumont said today.
The policy, agreed between the Amalgamated Workers Union (Northern) and Fletcher Construction, will be launched in a presentation in Auckland this evening attended by ACC Minister Ruth Dyson.

The agreement is a good example of unions and management working together to tackle the serious problem of impairment at work, Carol Beaumont said.

"The agreement focuses on education and rehabilitation, rather than taking punitive measures against workers with drug or alcohol problems," she said.

While the policy had been developed by the union and the company, putting it into practice would largely depend on buy-in from workers and site management.

"We will be encouraging construction workers to get involved in implementing this policy as unions know from experience that worker participation is the key to safe workplaces," Carol Beaumont said.