It is 5:46 pm on a weeknight. A 13-year-old named Cassie unlocks her mountain bike outside the netball courts, waves goodbye to her teammates, and starts pedalling home.
On that same evening commute, three people are heading to or from work. A sparky running on almost no sleep. An urban landscaper relying on substances she believes help her operate at a higher level. A bus driver who needed something to settle his nerves before his first evening shift on a new city route.
Cassie makes it home. But she should not have to rely on luck.
This is the story behind TDDA’s new campaign, and behind everything they do.
The real reason workplace drug testing matters
Most organisations approach workplace drug testing because they have to. There are health and safety obligations to meet, industry standards to maintain, insurance requirements to satisfy.
Those are legitimate reasons. But they are not the reason TDDA exists.
The people behind your drug and alcohol policy are not the ones sitting in the boardroom reviewing it. They are the people on the road, on the tools, behind the wheel, on the scaffolding. And they are the people who cross paths with your workers every day, people like Cassie, who have no idea your policy exists and have no say in how seriously it is taken.
What the girl on the bike campaign is about
The Girl on the Bike is a phrase that has become part of TDDA’s culture. It represents the person on the other end of every workplace decision, every drug policy, every test.
She is someone’s daughter. Someone’s friend. Someone simply trying to get home.
TDDA made a short film to bring that idea to life. It follows Cassie on her evening bike ride home and, at the same time, introduces the workers she encounters along the way, each of them impaired in some form, each of them unaware of the risk they represent to a 13-year-old on a footpath. The film is not about statistics or regulations. It is about what happens when workplace drug and alcohol risk spills beyond the worksite and into the community around it.
“At the Drug Detection Agency, we design drug policies, we train, we educate, and we test to keep people safe at work and beyond. Everything we do is focused on our why. To protect the girl on the bike like Cassie.”
Glenn Dobson, CEO, The Drug Detection Agency
Why this matters for your organisation
Across New Zealand and Australia, businesses in transport, construction, mining, healthcare, and dozens of other industries make daily decisions that affect the safety of people far beyond their own staff.
A robust workplace drug testing programme does more than protect your organisation from liability. It protects the people your workers encounter: on the road, at job sites, in shared public spaces. It protects the communities your business operates in.
That is what a genuine safety culture looks like. Not a policy that ticks a box, but one that reflects what your organisation actually values.
How TDDA supports safer workplaces
TDDA has been working with New Zealand and Australian businesses since 2005. With more than 300 staff, 90 mobile health clinics, and 65 locations across Australasia, they design drug policies, deliver training and education, and conduct workplace drug testing across industries.
TDDA holds ISO 17025 accreditation in both New Zealand and Australia, and processes more than 250,000 tests annually.
But the number they keep coming back to is one. One girl on a bike. One person trying to get home safely. Everything we do is focused on her.
Who is your girl on the bike?
When you think about why your workplace drug testing programme matters, who comes to mind? A family member? A colleague? Someone in the community around your worksite?
If you would like to talk about what a workplace drug and alcohol programme looks like for your organisation, get in touch with your local TDDA team.