GETTING TO KNOW BY ADINA YOUNG
Getting to Know Kirk Hardy, New Board Member
What first peaked your interest in a career in this industry? Well, I guess drug, alcohol
use and the problems it causes has always been a fascination of mine; from the early onset of drug use and why people choose to first use and the subsequent impact drug use has on people’s lives—directly or indirectly—amazes me. I first noticed the impact that drugs
had on people as a young boy in school. I personally witnessed some very good friends of mine waste so much talent and opportunity from getting tied up in the drug scene. I felt like I wanted to do something to stop this and this was the main reason I joined the police force and ultimately became a detective on drug squad in New Zealand. Drugs continued to interest me as I gained even more of an insight into the damage drugs caused in our society. As I looked at the crimes I had investigated and the theft, assaults, rapes and murder; nearly all these involved drugs in one way or another. I think if you take drugs out of the equation we wouldn’t have 90 percent of the problems we have around the world today. Being passionate and having a pas-
sionate team around me, and wanting to make a difference, is what has driven the success of The Drug Detection Agency. I believe that our industry is “building
fences” at the top of cliffs instead of being the ambulance at the bottom of it, much like how I felt as a detective. Our industry is one where we can have a
very positive effect on people’s lives and should be proud to be part of it. This is how The Drug Detection
Agency promises to evolve into ‘using the power of our brand to change people’s lives’ and I really believe this is the cause. It’s a fantastic and very rewarding industry to be involved in.
A recent article (http:// www.hawkesbaytoday.
co.nz/news/big-surge- in-workplace-drug- testing/1918641/) says that workplace drug testing in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand has increased by more 30 percent since 2011. To what do you attribute this surge? We are seeing a lot more employers becoming more aware of their responsibility in providing a safe working environment both in Australia and New Zealand. I also believe that the companies that have been conducting testing and education for a number of years now are really seeing the long-term benefits of doing such. Tey themselves are our biggest promoters to other organizations. I see this time and time again over our part of the world as I have been a keynote speaker at various industry conferences regarding drugs and drug testing in the Asian Pacific region as well.
As the Global CEO of The Drug Detection Agency, what obstacles have you seen with international
drug testing and how do you think they can be overcome? Without a doubt, the greatest obstacles revolve around the various industry stan- dards and legislation in each particular country. Legislation in a particular area may prevent certain methodologies of testing from being conducted and if this local legislation is not taken into account, then it can cause legal repercussions to the employer, if it was ever to become an industrial relations matter. Companies really need to do their
research when seeking services in other countries, I am working with a large global company now on this exact issue and it’s certainly an eye-opener to see what is going on out there.
Congratulations on being elected to DATIA’s Board of Directors! What do you hope to accomplish as a member of the Board? There are a number of things I think I could contribute to benefit DATIA members. The first I would like is to see through is the finalization and introduc- tion of the iDATIA program for an inter- national standard on drug testing. This would certainly facilitate standardization for companies looking to develop drug testing programs in their global opera- tions. Furthermore, this would foster general confidence that testing will be consistent in quality and methodology, wherever their operations are. This in itself will be a challenge as
there is still a lot of work to achieve a standard that will be accepted globally.
34
datia focus
fall 2013
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