{"id":65246,"date":"2025-10-08T09:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/65246\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T09:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T09:56:10","slug":"civil-aviation-authority-takes-on-watchdog-role-as-operators-meet-first-deadline-for-new-drug-and-alcohol-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/65246\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Aviation Authority takes on \u2018watchdog\u2019 role as operators meet first deadline for new drug and alcohol rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dobson said aviation has numerous safety-sensitive roles and activities occurring at once, \u201cand if something does go wrong, it can be catastrophic\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Drug Detection Agency (TDDA) chief executive Glenn Dobson.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The CAA have] followed a little bit of international best practice. DAMPs are not an unusual thing in aviation industries around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new rules mean operators must file not only workplace testing plans, but also a \u201cresponse plan\u201d for what happens when problems arise.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, operators are required to keep the regulator updated with developments in the implementation of their plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a refusal or an attempt to cheat a test that indicates drugs, then the operator has to report that to CAA \u2013 I think the term they use is as soon as practicable,\u201c Dobson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s also quarterly reporting as well. That\u2019s each operator has to report to the CAA quarterly in relation to how many tests they\u2019ve done, the safety-sensitive roles that those tests cover.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CAA told the Herald that it will rely on \u201ca range of education, engagement, monitoring, and auditing activities to ensure that participants effectively implement aviation safety requirements\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Civil Aviation Authority is now tasked with providing active oversight of drug and alcohol management plans in New Zealand’s aviation sector. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

When asked what would happen if operators failed to submit plans or fell short of the required standard, the CAA said there was a range of actions it would consider.<\/p>\n

But while industry oversight was strengthening, it wouldn\u2019t come with increased transparency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe compliance results for individual participants with CAA rules are not made public,\u201d the CAA said, adding it instead shares broader safety insights with the sector.<\/p>\n

Dobson, however, believed operators should go further.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they should stand loud and proud and say, \u2018Yes, we\u2019re taking it seriously and this is what we\u2019re doing,\u2019 so the public have a degree of confidence around it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CAA will take … a bit of a watchdog sort of scenario where they\u2019ll make sure that everything has been applied correctly,\u201d Dobson said.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dobson said aviation has numerous safety-sensitive roles and activities occurring at once, \u201cand if something does go wrong,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20784,52869,95,806,1124,15033,3390,26501,1887,45688,3401,1888,2082,648,1019,9862,3025,117,111,43,139,69,90,15290,52868,6744,52871,205,6122,52870,12975,1120,13026,102,2963],"class_list":["post-65246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-alcohol","tag-aligning","tag-and","tag-as","tag-authority","tag-aviation","tag-best","tag-civil","tag-countrys","tag-deadline","tag-drug","tag-first","tag-for","tag-industries","tag-international","tag-meet","tag-most","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-operators","tag-oversight","tag-place","tag-practice","tag-role","tag-rules","tag-safetycritical","tag-sector","tag-takes","tag-watchdog","tag-with","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}