Unions welcome ban on urine drugs test

Unions have welcomed a decision to scrap urine drug tests at a NSW electricity company, saying workers shouldn't be punished for drug use in their private time.

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) last week upheld a decision made in 2012 to stop state-owned company Endeavour Energy from testing its staff for drug and alcohol use using their urine.

The commission said urine tests would be "unjust and unreasonable", and ordered that mouth swabs be used instead.

It said urine tests may show that a person had drugs and alcohol in their system, even if they had used the substances outside work hours.

Endeavour Energy says urine tests would provide a safer working environment for its staff.

"Mine workers and electricity workers both work in potentially dangerous conditions and yet different drug testing methods have been ordered by the FWC," company chief Vince Graham said in a statement on Monday.

"Endeavour Energy simply sought to give its workers the same level of protection given to the mine workers."

The Electrical Trades Union called on Endeavour Energy and the NSW government to accept the decision and rule out further appeals.

"While oral testing accurately identifies recent drug use ... urine tests unfairly monitor workers' private lives," Neville Betts, from the union's NSW branch, said in a statement.

The United Services Union (USU) said drug and alcohol testing at work should be about safety and not social monitoring.

"Drug and alcohol testing ... should not be a technique for disciplining staff for actions that have occurred days earlier in a private capacity in someone's own time," the USU's Scott McNamara said.