Carmen Hall: All work places should be drug free

The Government is ruling out relaxing drug testing practices in the forestry industry. Photo / Getty Images

COMMENT:
What would you expect you would have to do to get an extra $100 a month in wages?

Would you think you might have to upskill or take on more responsibilities or a leadership role?

Well if you are in the forestry industry and work for Inta-Wood Forestry Ltd, which plants and prunes trees across the region, you don't have to do any of those things.

As this newspaper reported yesterday, owner Nathan Fogden will pay the bonus to workers who are drug and alcohol-free.

He says his team are tested monthly to qualify for the cash because Fogden wants to ensure his staff are ''in good condition to be onsite''.

I can see where he is coming from. There is no denying working in the forestry sector is tough, physically demanding and dangerous. There have been deaths investigated by WorkSafe and the Forestry industry supports many safety initiatives.

The Government has also ruled out relaxing drug-testing practices in the least-dangerous forestry jobs - despite a labour shortage in the sector.

The idea was tabled by WorkSafe staff in August last year and was centred around flat field planting seedlings where no machinery was involved.

But it is pleasing to see most people at the forefront of the sector, including the Forest Industry Contractors Association, are not in favour. Association chief executive Prue Younger says it has done a lot of hard work around drug testing, culture building and mitigating risk in the workplace.

Fogden also agrees but is equally worried about the lack of suitable staff and estimates nationally more than 40 per cent of plantings did not happen last year due to the labour shortage.

The sector is not alone on that front as it also affects other industries, such as construction, which also grapples with recruiting drug and alcohol-free, work-ready people.

Bottom line? I think it is a fair shake for employers to expect their staff to be sober and alert while on the job and this should apply to every workplace.

I support drug testing regardless of whether someone is using a chainsaw or, like me, sitting at an office desk most of the day.

Being stoned or drunk at work is not acceptable and employers, in my opinion, should not have to resort to paying staff more to ensure they are sober on the job.