TRANSPORT CASABLANCA: 1ST COMPANY CERTIFIED AS DRUG FREE WORKPLACE

Together with Global Partners, Transportes Casablanca achieved the accreditation and implementation of the Drug Free Workplace, a management system that certifies and accredits that a company has implemented and maintains high standards in the prevention of alcohol and drug use among its employees and contractors.

 "The consumption of any type of drug or narcotic and also alcohol abuse are a serious threat to the safety and health of our employees, due to the risky behavior they can generate in the work, social and family environment," says Guillermo Doering, general manager of Transportes Casablanca, one of the main transportation companies and logistics operators in the country, which today has more than 900 employees.

 Doering adds that, with a prevention policy that is reaffirmed by this certification, they aim to "avoid this type of risky behavior, focusing on the importance of achieving a safe and healthy work environment for our employees and associates, regardless of the position they hold and the functions they perform," he says.

 It is a certification granted in the framework of the implementation of the Drug Free Workplace program, which Patricio Labatut, general manager of Global Partners, defines as the "gold standard" of developed countries, incorporating the best practices and methodologies that exist in the world to comprehensively address the problem of drug use and alcohol abuse in the workplace. "It was the first program of its kind to be accredited by the Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association of the United States and adapted to Chile, where there is no other similar program with the level of functionality, completeness and effectiveness that truly allows companies and organizations to address this complex problem successfully", Labatut specifies.

 Facing the issue properly is fundamental for a company with a presence throughout the country, which travels more than 50 million kilometers a year and in a scenario that generates "high exposure" of the fleet to traffic accidents, says Guillermo Doering.

The road traveled

 To achieve certification, Transportes Casablanca began a process similar to that of obtaining any ISO standard. The main thing was to prove that they had an active alcohol and drug prevention program.

"The company has a very good relationship with its unions and maintains an open-door policy with all its staff. Our employees were an active part of the implementation, and this significantly reduced the resistance to change that can come with the implementation of this type of instrument," says Guillermo Doering, referring to the tests that are now mandatory.

Antes del programa Drug Free Workplace, la empresa ya había logrado las certificaciones ISO 9001; ISO 14001; ISO 45001; el Sistema de Homologación para el Transporte Carretero, de ASIQUIM; y el Programa de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional del Instituto de Seguridad del Trabajo. “Drug Free Workplace viene a robustecer nuestros controles operacionales, y eso se traduce finalmente en un mejor servicio para el cliente”, añade.

In general, the requirements are aimed at the company or organization "proving that it has defined a policy and various procedures associated with it, to make it functional and effective, carrying out activities to prevent consumption, eventually supporting people with problems, and finally dissuading consumption, through alcohol and drug testing to avoid risky behavior that may cause incidents or accidents in the workplace," Labatut explains, as an example for other companies that want to take the same path.

Expected impacts

Companies that implement this program not only reduce alcohol and drug consumption, accidents, absenteeism and staff turnover, but also improve their productivity, obtaining a return of US$ 6 for every dollar invested. "They are safer, healthier and more productive companies, according to various studies," says Labatut.

"Drug use and alcohol abuse in the workplace is absolutely transversal to all companies or organizations, industries and countries. Companies that have done nothing in this area have a drug consumption rate of 20.4%, and those that carry out sporadic controls, 6.1%, while those that have implemented the Drug Free Workplace program, only 2.7%", says Labatut, about a problem that he considers has not been addressed in the country as it should, and where efforts are limited to large and medium-sized companies with high operational risk, such as mining, power generators and land and air cargo transportation.

 With its implementation and the evidence of constant testing, Transportes Casablanca expects to reduce its operational risk and "seek the different treatments required by people, always maintaining the confidentiality of the cases and discarding any kind of stigmatization towards those affected", says Guillermo Doering. "On the other hand, we believe that this certification puts us at the forefront of other large companies that take seriously the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, ensuring safer and healthier work environments for employees and contractors, while generating a safety ecosystem for our internal and external processes, an added value that allows us to ensure continuity in the various operations of our clients," he adds.