Drug-Safe Workplace Certification

Is your business or organisation able to be certified DRUGSAFE?

At Drug-safe Australia we take safety from substance abuse very seriously through our fully accredited team of Drug-safe Community providers.

When you engage a Drug-safe Community programme you will be working with the best trained and experienced team of professionals available, who are focussed upon providing a complete practical solution which will lead to DRUG-SAFE WORKPLACE CERTIFICATION.

The DRUG SAFE CERTIFICATION PROGRAMME has been developed by our organisation over the past two decades to become the industry-standard for best practice and excellence.

In fact Drug-safe Australia has consistently been recognised as the innovative leader in addressing alcohol and drug issues within Australia and the South Asian/Pacific region. Some of our key milestones include:

• The first to introduce mobile clinics Australia wide
• The first to deliver a 24 hour laboratory confirmation result.
• Continual improvement and training programmes for Field service teams
• Electronic reporting and analysis
• The only provider to deliver a certified DRUGSAFE solution

Drug-safe certification –

1. Drug-safe Policy, Processes and Procedures.
   1. The foundation for any successful Drug-safe programme is to ensure you have a clear and workable Policy that meets your unique needs and is simple enough for your staff or membership to understand and comprehend the consequences of not meeting the basic requirements.
   2. This document is the roadmap upon the Drug-safe programme will be founded with the agreement and support of all involved, whether they are management, employees, sub-contractors, visitors or possibly members of an association or sporting facility in the case of a Drug-safe Sports programme.
   3. The “3 P’s” (Policy, Process and Procedures) have been drafted by some of Australia’s finest Industrial legal minds under the guidance of Drug-safe Australia’s experienced management.
2. Explain and educate:
   1. We conduct your Drug-safe Workshops for ALL staff in a relaxed and non-threatening way. This allows the staff to ask questions regarding their personal circumstances and dispel any rumours that may have been circulating.
   2. These presentations should be professional but concise, allowing time to address all issues of concern but avoiding disruption by dissenters.
   3. Workshops should only consist of 30+/- people at a time.
3. ASQA Accreditation and Fit for work training:
   1. Supervisors who have a day-to-day involvement with staff need to be trained to identify areas of concern and staff behaviour that could be unsafe for others and themselves. This also gives supervisory staff a basic understanding of what is acceptable behaviour and when they should interact. Fit for Work training is a half day interactive training and awareness workshop designed specifically for people in a supervisory role
   2. It is desirable to have at least one staff member on each shift accredited to ASQA standard to test for alcohol and other drugs (AOD). The purpose is for on-site challenges that require a competent test to be conducted that follows all legal requirements and further laboratory confirmation if necessary.
   3. This would be required in circumstances such as “reasonable cause/suspicion, return to work, post incident and possibly after events such as Grand Final football match or other similar celebrations.

Reason for testing:

1. Pre-employment screening:
   1. This is a simple and inexpensive process sometimes referred to as “stopping the leaks”.
   2. Once you have established a culture of Drug-safe work practices within your organisation it is vitally important to stop any bad habits “leaking” in through poor employment screening.
   3. This is done through a Drugsafe Workforce programme to screen all “shortlisted” new employees as part of their application process.
   4. These recruits may be asked to pay for their alcohol and other drug screen as part of the application process but be reimbursed by the company if they are successful.
2. Blanket screening:
   1. To identify the depth of the problem and be able to focus a limited budget towards “hot-spots” a blanket screen or AOD audit should be conducted as soon as your Drug-safe workshops are completed. This ensures that budgets are not wasted in areas that show little or no safety concerns regarding substance abuse.
   2. A blanket screen also provides a baseline of fact upon which future results can be measured and compared. This is very important to ensure your Drug-safe programme is achieving your desired results.
3. Random screening:
   1. Once the results of the blanket screen are available it allows for a focussed and well planned random screening programme to be commenced.
   2. Random screening is an essential part of the Drug-safe Programme and is where the “rubber hits the road” and the policy, processes and procedures are applied to achieve the outcome agreed to in the Drug-safe Education workshops.
   3. The random schedule will be planned to avoid a pattern that can be forecasted and expected by staff.
4. Reasonable Cause:
   1. Reasonable cause testing is conducted where a supervisor or work colleague expresses concern for the safety behaviour of a work colleague or contractor. A test can be conducted by a fully trained staff member to ascertain whether the individual is affected by alcohol or other drugs or suffering the effects of illness or exhaustion.
5. Analysis and reporting:
   1. Allows you to manage your Drug-safe programme effectively by seeing results and issues quickly.
   2. You are also able to identify trends in programme outcomes on a regular basis. This is an essential management tool and a key element to create a “best practice” Drug-safe campaign.