Health and Safety Legislation

Road & Rail transport is subject to more legal issues than almost any other industry and as a result, employers have a number of clearly defined statutory duties and responsibilities towards their employees and the public. These duties and responsibilities are set out in a number of legal Regulations and Acts of Parliament.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Management Regulations 1999

The Act gives employers a general duty to ensure, as far as is reasonably possible, the health, safety and welfare of their employees. The Regulations further require employers to assess the risk to health and safety of their employees and the employer’s duties include reasonable care to avoid injury, disease or death. This would include the prevention of drug and alcohol use since an employee under the influence would not only create a risk to themselves but also to other employees. Under this same legislation, employees are also legally required to take reasonable care of themselves and others who may be affected by their actions at work.

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971

This Act makes the production, supply and possession of controlled drugs unlawful, except in certain clearly defined circumstances. An employer would be in breach of the Act and therefore committing an offence if he knowingly permitted activities involving controlled drugs, including the smoking of cannabis, to take place on his premises.

The Road Traffic Act 1988

This Act makes it a criminal offence for anyone to drive, attempt to drive or be otherwise found in charge of a vehicle whilst unfit through alcohol or drugs.

Drugs and Alcohol Screening

For businesses operating within a safety sensitive industry, screening and testing for drugs and alcohol use amongst the workforce is a simple and obvious way to protect their workforce and the public and to address and reduce the risk of accident and injury. Widely done as a reactive measure following an incident, many businesses now have routine random drugs and alcohol testing as part of a proactive approach to limiting risk within an overall company occupational health policy. Any strategy introduced as part of such a policy, clearly designed to prevent risk to others is likely to have the full backing of the workforce.

Transport and Works Act

All rail companies have a zero tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol. The Transport and Works Act makes it a criminal offence to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol whilst driving or whilst carrying out safety critical work. It is deemed unacceptable to use drugs or alcohol under any work-related circumstances and employers are bound by law to prevent this and therefore have strict drugs and alcohol policies which include random testing.

All safety critical workers must produce a negative drug test before they can begin work and for all those employees in such roles including drivers, guards, signallers and shunters, the requirement to provide samples will be a key part of the contract of employment. Random drug and alcohol testing without warning is undertaken as a deterrent and testing will always be carried out after an incident.