Paul Jarvie: EMA Workplace Safety Manager on KiwiRail's decision to ban melatonin and sleeping medication

Sleep deprivation is worse than showing up to work feeling a bit groggy warns a workplace safety expert as KiwiRail moves to ban sleeping medications. 

Its Chief Medical Officer has reviewed Zopiclone and Melatonin and found them incompatible with its safety critical work.  

EMA workplace safety manager Paul Jarvie wants to find out what led to KiwiRail making this decision. 

He told Heather du Plessis-Allan Melatonin isn't a sedative that lasts too long, and will probably be out of a person's system after an eight-hour sleep. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Key we Rail has banned around two and a half
thousand of its workers from using sleeping pills or melatonin.
This is an advance of all of us being able
to buy the melatonin over the counter soon. They say
workers in safety sensitive roles will be stood down if
they found using it. Paul Javi is EMA's workplace safety
manager and with us morning, Paul Good, do you think
this is necessary?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Look, I think of as competing issues here. One is
there's the emploment relations side of thing, and that there's
also the health and safety aspect. So the health is
that de aspect obviously is to provide a safe workplace
and that's for the employees and the public. In case
of q rail and from the er side of the
implement relations side, employees need to be able to a

(00:45):
team work or front to work in a fit, running
enable state. So that's that's the kind of ground rules.
So in terms of taking melatonin, I mean it's been
around for a long time. It's been prescribed by GPS
for a long long time mid safe risk averse. So
for them to release it from a from a GP's
prescription into public over over counter by interpretation would mean

(01:10):
that they are seeing it as being kind of safe.
I guess the real question is is understanding what maltonin is.
So maltonin isn't a sedative, it's a hormone. It's a
hormone which is what your body produces. And so the
hormone meltonin is secreted when it goes dark to help

(01:34):
you get to sleep. And that's where the problem arises
because if your shift work is in the dark, that's
when you're supposally be waking up and going to work.
So they have to sleep during the day, which is
the opposite of what it's called.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Look, I can understand that there may be some concerns
about somebody with a zoplocone hangover coming in. You know
that stuff is pretty potent if you've seen it hit someone.
But surely, surely it is better that that a shift
worker gets a good, good amount of sleep before they
come to work rather than coming to work sleep deprived.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, absolutely, it means you die if you don't get
enough sleep, and sleep deprivation is probably worse than feeling
a bit bit groggy. But maltona and if you have
had in the kind of prescribed doses, there's only in
your body for four or five hours, so if you
receive me for eight, it's probably gone the time you
wake up. I mean, there's always going to be variability

(02:25):
within the population. That's absolutely vital. You all know that.
But other other medications can make your drastic, things like antihstamines, antidepressants,
pain pain reliefs, blood pressure pills, they can also make
you go. So it's really about trying to understand what
it is about maltona and keep rail that they come

(02:46):
to this choice very good.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Well, I think we're all a little bit confused by it,
don't we. Paul, listen, we're gonna have to leave it there.
Thanks mate, I do appreciate it. Is Paul javi Ema,
workplace safety manager. Don't tell key we rail about what
the person did at the hospital the other day with
the cannabis cake, because if you want to fall asleep,
just hand your hand, your hand, your colleagues a chocolate cake.
Don't tell them there's cannabis and that, and then we've
got real trouble.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
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