Casual workers test higher for drugs

About 18 per cent of prospective casual workers at Port Nelson have tested positive for illegal drugs since mandatory testing was introduced in November last year, the port company says.

The results are comparable with two other regional employers, New Zealand King Salmon and Weyerhaeuser New Zealand, which have reported positive testing rates from about 10 per cent to more than 20 per cent.

Environmental Science and Research (ESR) said Nelson's positive test rate was higher than other South Island areas.

But the percentage of people testing positive at the three companies has declined since testing was introduced.

Port Nelson's testing applies to all new appointments within the company, including internal transfers.

Higher numbers of positive tests have been found only among casual workers. Thirteen out of 72 casual staff who have applied since November have tested positive. Only one out of 41 permanent employees has tested positive since testing for them was introduced in September 2001.

Workers employed by the company before the introduction of testing have not been screened.

Port Nelson chief executive Jim Williamson said drug and alcohol testing was introduced because much of the company's work involved heavy equipment and machinery.

Weyerhaeuser New Zealand harvest operations manager Ian Reade said all of the company's more than 500 employees were subject to pre-employment, reasonable cause, post-incident and random drug and alcohol testing.

When testing was introduced, between 20 and 30 per cent of workers were testing positive. But over the last six months there had been only a 10 per cent positive rate.

A positive test did not necessarily mean automatic dismissal. Instead workers were offered a programme of rehabilitation, education and counselling.

New Zealand King Salmon Company chief executive Paul Steere said all new employees had undergone drug testing since April 2001.

There was about a 15 per cent positive testing rate when it was introduced, but this had dropped to about 6 per cent.

Sealord spokeswoman Merrill Coke said the company introduced pre-employment testing in 1997 in response to concerns by fishers "about the potential effects of drug-taking at sea".

There had been a "significant decrease" in positive testing over the years.

ESR workplace drug testing programme manager Shelli Turner said the number of positive tests recorded in Nelson was higher than other parts of the South Island.

This might be explained by Nelson's favourable cannabis-growing climate and the culture of the area.

- NZPA