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Seeing through the smoke what to do about the cannabis referendum BY KIRK HARDY, CEO, THE DRUG DETECTION AGENCY TDDA
The upcoming cannabis referendum has dire implications for businesses in the transportation space. There’s simply no safe way to combine cannabis and operating machinery or motor vehicles, let alone 40 tonne truck. If you don’t have a robust drug and alcohol policy and testing regime, you are playing with fire Companies need a professional policy and to adhere to it. It needs to be purpose built, and include specifics around preemployment, post incident and random drug testing. Dismissing an employee for a failed drug test can be justified. However, if an employer fails to take the necessary steps to ensure the dismissal was in accordance with its policy, they can still find themselves stuck in a legal challenge. This situation was highlighted when the Employment Relations Authority found a dismissal after a failed drug test unjustified –
drawbacks to the test for cannabis. People can evade detection by rinsing their mouth, drinking or eating up to 30 minutes before a test. The detection timeframes for THC in a urine test are approximately three days for infrequent use, five days for moderate use, and 10 days for daily use. Urine is a most reliable workplace test and provides superior accuracy and reliability.
TDDA office studio hair follicle testing
because the dismissal didn’t follow their own policy. Work with a professional company like TDDA to ensure your policy is fit for purpose and followed. Testing is science, and the science says urine provides better results than oral fluid testing Saliva testing makes up about 15% of TDDA’s workplace drug testing, but there are
This isn’t the weed you remember Cannabis potency increased 300 percent since the 1980s. If legalisation occurs you can expect high concentration THC, the psychoactive ingredient, to cause issues in your workplace. It comes in the form of edibles and concentrates like ‘butane honey oil’ or ‘gel caps’ that have THC concentrations as high as 90 percent. THC has a dangerous hangover effect, even for a moderate social dose. Studies show cannabis can impact workers for days without them knowing and chronic users of cannabis may be constantly impaired. Managers must be educated to recognise the signs of workplace drug abuse
Many supervisors are ill prepared to deal with employees presenting signs of drug and alcohol abuse. There is an easy way to learn what to look for and how to appropriately deal with an issue. TDDA’s Comprehensive Substance Identification (CSi) programme helps managers understand drug issues and go beyond simply looking for attendance problems, forgetfulness, or recurring minor incidents. CSi provides techniques so managers make informed employment decisions. You don’t approach someone with a meth issue the same way as someone with a cannabis issue, and CSi helps solve this problem. Cannabis is either staying, or staying Cannabis is a problem in the workplace with or without the referendum, but a pass vote means more access to and use of cannabis. Leaders in the transportation industry need to take the time now to prepare. Businesses should start by reviewing the company drug and alcohol policy to make sure it’s still relevant. Contact TDDA for help with updating drug and alcohol policies, educating supervisors, and ensuring your workplace has effective testing procedures.
DOESN’T MATTER HOW YOUR DRIVERS S VO OTE IN THE REFEREN NDUM
TELL THEM YOU’LL BE TESTING!
NZ 0508 DRUGTEST AU 1300 4 DETECTION WEB TDDA.COM
