New recruits at Hull port rejected due to drug test failures

Associated British Ports operates four sites along the Humber Estuary, including Immingham

A Humber ports manager has revealed how the business's zero-tolerance drugs policy has affected recruitment.

Associated British Ports' (ABP) Dafydd Williams said that in one Hull incident seven out of 10 new staff were let go.

He said the business didn't generally "have problems getting applicants, but more with getting the people who are eligible to do the work".

Mr Williams also said finding senior management staff was difficult due to a reluctance to move to the area.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Williams told East Riding's Safer and Stronger Communities Sub-Committee that the firm operated a "zero tolerance to drugs" policy.

"If you're caught, it's an instant dismissal," he said.

"That's because people are operating machinery and all the rest of it so they need to be in the right physical condition.

"We do pre-screening drugs and alcohol tests and random ones in work.

"The pre-screening process has caused a number of issues, in Hull 10 new people took the test and seven failed it."

'Challenge'

Mr Williams added that ABP had had success progressing their own staff up into higher roles and tended to keep people once they joined.

"Recruiting at the higher end is also a problem in this part of the world, attracting people to come and live here is a challenge," he said.

"We try to grow our own and we're quite good at keeping people."

ABP runs four ports along the Humber at Hull, Goole, Immingham and Grimsby.

It is also responsible for the pilot service that guides larger ships up the estuary.