BUILDING industry leaders in Ballarat are backing a push for mandatory drug and alcohol education in trade apprenticeship programs.
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Ballarat and District Drug Action Partnership is leading a ‘Case for Change’, aiming for a proactive approach to raise awareness about the impact drug and alcohol use can have on the building site before they start work.
Site manager Sam Jobe, who works for Hutchinson Builders, said education was an important tool in changing cultural behaviours.
Mr Jobe said the push was not about wrapping young tradespeople not to ever use drugs or alcohol. It was about givign them the right information and making them aware of consequences and safety standards before they set foot on site.
Major Commonwealth building projects have mandatory drug testing but Mr Job said with any big toys, there was the potential for big accidents.
“A lot don’t understand next day ramifications of drugs and alcohol in your system,” Mr Jobe said.
“You talk to a lot of older people on site and they think this is all (pointless) but I think they don’t understand how much the industry is changing. It used to be acceptable to have a few beers at lunchtime on the job.”
A study into drug use in the Australian workforce found tradespeople were more likely than workers in other occupations.
Incident risk, absenteeism and presenteeism (turning up for work but not mentally as alert) can be major drug and alcohol-related issues on building sites. FedUni TAFE training and employment advisor Brad Smith said while these could also be issues for workers in other sectors, bringing an education awareness component into pre-apprenticeship courses would help create industry confident that apprentices were informed from the outset.
Mr Smith said FedUni had counselling support for apprentices with drug and alcohol concerns, as did most industry bodies, but it was vital to ensure all apprentices were aware these were available and when they might need to seek help.
Positive Choices, a drug awareness program, has federal funding through the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. BADDAP, part of Ballarat Community Health, aims to use Positive Choices in community partnerships to engage the building industry and is encouraging people to write a letter of support to add to the case for change.