Youthsafe teamed up with Macquarie Area Health Drug and Alcohol Service in 2002 to investigate and address drug and alcohol related injury in two regionally based workplaces, a local abattoir and a trades apprentices group training organisation, the two largest employers of young people in the region. Funded by NSW Health (Men and Boys Health Project Grants), the project was set up in two stages over two years:

Stage 1: Abattoir
Working closely with management, union representatives, abattoir workers and the community, project coordinators from Youthsafe and MAHS pieced together the extent of the drug and alcohol problem in the abattoir and proposed a number of activities to bring about positive change.

Activities included a review of workplace policies, initiation of training for new staff on workplace drug and alcohol risks, training for supervisors on managing unsafe behaviour and on communicating effectively with staff and a confidential referral system for employees wanting to access counselling and rehabilitation services.

If you want more information about stage 1 of the project check out the final report, or contact the project coordinator: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Stage 2: Group Training Organisation
Using the lessons from stage 1, Youthsafe and MAHS worked with a local group training company to tackle workplace drug and alcohol issue amongst their young workforce.

A workplace policy, training program and support resources were developed and provided to trainees, apprentices and their host employers in various formats.

It is encouraging to see one of the region's largest employers of young people taking such a proactive approach to dealing with this important safety issue.