KiwiRail bans 2500 workers from using sleep meds

Otago Daily Times

15-07-2025

KiwiRail has banned approximately 2500 of its workers from using melatonin and Zopiclone, citing safety concerns.
Melatonin will soon be sold over the counter without requiring a prescription.
Rail and Maritime Union health and safety organiser Karen Fletcher said in a recent memo to staff, KiwiRail said workers in safety sensitive roles taking melatonin or Zopiclone would be stood down temporarily.
She said the union was not consulted on the decision.
"We first heard about it when the staff got in touch with us and said, 'What's this all about?' They've been taking melatonin and Zopiclone for years and even decades, prescribed by a doctor, and sometimes the rail medical doctor.
"It came as a shock."
She said the staff included in the ban were those in high-risk, front-line roles, who often operated heavy machinery.
Many were shift workers who relied on melatonin or Zopiclone to help them sleep, she said.
"Shift workers have to sleep at odd times of the day and night, and [sleep medication] has been really helpful for them.
"They take it to be fit for work because if they don't sleep, they're at risk of working in a fatigued state."
She said the workers often had to shift their start time and sleep time, working rotating shifts.
She said the union had not had any issues with workers being impaired from taking sleep aids, and some said taking them made them feel the best they ever had at work.
"They're questioning why now, why the change, is there new evidence?
"And will people be able to take it in certain circumstances, and what will happen to our members if they're unable to transition off these meds that they've been using for decades in some cases?" KiwiRail's statement
In a statement, a KiwiRail spokesperson told RNZ it made the decision based on advice from its chief medical officer Dr Simon Ryder-Lewis who is an occupational medicine physician.
"KiwiRail's chief medical officer has independently reviewed the use of Zopiclone and melatonin by safety critical workers at KiwiRail. This review considered the medical evidence regarding these medications as well as regulatory practices in rail and other comparable industries, both in New Zealand and internationally.
"Based on this assessment, the chief medical officer has determined that neither medication is compatible with safety critical work at KiwiRail."
KiwiRail said it placed the highest priority on safety and under its Fitness for Work Policy, all workers were required to notify their managers or supervisor of any factors which might impair their ability to perform their duties safely, including declaring prescription medications.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) also told RNZ it did not generally recommend melatonin for pilots and crew.
"We have found the use of melatonin by pilots and cabin crew is usually not useful to manage fatigue and roster-related time zone changes. Melatonin may be approved by CAA on a case-by-case basis for pilots without sleep disorders." Sleep expert's view
Deputy Head of the University of Auckland Department of Anaesthesiology Guy Warman has expertise in sleep, circadian rhythms and melatonin.
He said it was common for shift workers, particularly those who work overnight, to feel tired while on shift and have poor sleep while off work.
"Shift work presents all sorts of challenges because people are working at times when the body is trying to promote sleep.
"People then seek ways of improving their sleep through medication and other means.
He said melatonin was different from other sleep medications that acted as sedatives.
"It's not really a sleep drug, it's a hormone.
"Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland in the brain in very low doses. It naturally acts on receptors in our central biological clock to reinforce our day-night sleeping cycle.
"However, in pharmacological doses, it can be taken to shift our biological clock and reduce sleep onset latency, which is the amount of time it takes to get to sleep."
He said as long as it was taken in appropriate doses and at appropriate times, the safety effects of melatonin were positive.
"The general recommendation is eight hours before doing any work.
"The evidence I'm aware of is that the melatonin will be gone before the eight hours are up."
He was not aware of any evidence that taking a standard 3mg of melatonin could cause impairment the day after it was taken.