Negotiating at national level

GMB national health and safety officer Dan Shears provided an example of the wide variety of issues to be resolved when negotiating national level drug and alcohol policies. During negotiations at National Grid — an international electricity and gas company based in the UK and northeastern US — he constructed a “mind map” to highlight some of the questions that needed to be addressed, including the following:

• How would drugs and alcohol policies fit in with other policies – on stress and mental health, and in relation to disciplinary and rehabilitation/occupational health policies for example?

• Who would be trained and who would do the training? How would it be delivered?

• How could the trade unions contribute to the communications strategy?

• How would any testing be carried out and who by? What about home-based workers and privacy issues? What levels should be set? Could resources be better spent on education and support than testing?

• How could a consistency of approach be assured?

• Who would provide governance and oversight?

The discussions took place over the course of a full year and involved all key parties — unions, HR, line managers and the testing contractors themselves.