This webinar was delivered in collaboration with Port Skills & Safety and LMP Legal.
Would your drug and alcohol policy hold up if a regulator or tribunal examined it? Ports are among the country’s most safety-critical workplaces, with heavy plant, constant vehicle movements, and multiple employers operating side by side. In that environment, a vague, out-of-date, or inconsistently applied policy may become a liability rather than a safeguard.
This practical webinar outlines the foundation for a drug and alcohol policy that could withstand scrutiny in a port setting. Delivered in collaboration with Port Skills & Safety and legal specialists at LMP Legal, it focuses on port operations and the decisions that make a policy defensible in practice.
The session covered employers’ health and safety duties, the criteria for a legally defensible policy, and how a policy shapes the testing method an organisation adopts.
The recording is available to Port Skills & Safety members only. If you are a member, contact Port Skills & Safety to access it. If you are not yet a member, contact PSS to discuss membership and the resources available to members.
What the Recording Covers
- Why a documented drug and alcohol policy underpins an employer’s health and safety duties, and the risks of a weak or inconsistently enforced policy
- The six criteria of a legally defensible policy, and how each applies in a port environment
- How to handle non-negative results with clear, confidential procedures, and how to set explicit, enforceable standards for alcohol and drug use
- How a policy should guide the choice of testing method, and how fingerprint drug screening supports a strong policy across ports
The legal principles behind a defensible policy are universal, so the framework applies well beyond ports. The worked examples come from port operations, but the same approach applies to construction, transport, logistics, and other safety-critical environments.
