Concern at marketing campaigns by HR and drug-testing companies has prompted the ICTU to publish guidelines for union representatives negotiating workplace drug and alcohol policies with employers. The publication of Congress’s guide comes just weeks after it became clear, following the HSA’s publication of an information sheet on the issue, that the Government will not bring forward regulation on workplace drug and alcohol testing and the HSA will not issue a Code of Practice or guidelines.

In the foreword to the Guidelines for Workplace Representatives Negotiating Workplace Drug and Alcohol Policies, Eamon Devoy, who chairs ICTU’s health and safety committee, having expressed union concern about marketing campaigns, writes that the guide aims to provide union representatives with information on negotiating safe, legal and ethical policies....