Pubdate: Mon, 01 Oct 2007
Source: Macon Telegraph (GA)
Copyright: 2007 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.macontelegraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667
Author: Matt Barnwell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

MACON REVISING DRUG-TESTING PLAN

Macon officials are putting into place new drug-testing  guidelines
for employees, a little more than a year  after a man was killed in a
car accident involving a  city worker who officials said later tested
positive  for marijuana and cocaine use.

The revised drug and alcohol policy, which expands the  city's ability
to perform random drug tests, will go  into effect this week barring
opposition from the City  Council. A council committee already has
signaled its  acceptance of the plan, which does not require a formal
vote of approval.

Last August, Carlos Dorn, 36, was traveling north on  Riverside Drive
as a city truck driven by 50-year-old  Hugh Edwards was traveling
southbound. A trailer  carrying a lawn mower detached from Edwards'
truck,  veered into the northbound lanes and struck Dorn's GMC  Jimmy,
killing him instantly, police have said.

Following the accident, Edwards was tested that same  day for drugs.
He was fired after officials said he  failed the test. Police also
said safety chains had not  been used to secure the trailer.

Dorn's family earlier this year filed preliminary  paperwork required
to initiate a lawsuit against the  city. But instead of suing, they
later settled for  $300,000, the limit of Macon's motor vehicle
liability  insurance policy, City Attorney Pope Langstaff said.  The
city paid the $10,000 deductible on that claim.

"Without saying so, that (accident) is the real reason"  behind the
policy change, said Councilman Charles  Jones, a member of the
council's Employee Development  and Compensation Committee. The city
needs to be more  proactive in preventing similar problems in the
future,  he said.

Macon's current drug and alcohol policy allows random  drug testing
only for police and firefighters. The city  also tests new hires and
employees who are involved in  accidents while at work.

The new policy extends the city's random testing reach  to employees
who drive vehicles that require a  commercial driver's license,
employees who operate  heavy equipment such as a backhoe or front-end
loader,  employees who transport passengers and employees who  drive a
vehicle with a trailer attached.

"Actually, it should have been that way in the first  place,"
Councilwoman Brenda Youmas said of the new  stipulations. Youmas is
chairwoman of the Employee  Development Committee. "We're covering all
our bases,  particularly in automobile accidents."

She said last year's accident was not the only factor  driving the
policy change. Even at that time the city  was looking for an update,
she said, but the slow  movement of government has meant it's taken
this long  to get something done.

Macon's Human Resources Department is compiling a list  of city
workers who will fall under the random testing  requirements. Those
workers will be given a 60-day  notice before they are subject to the
new policy.

Langstaff said because the city is an arm of  government,
constitutional constraints on search and  seizure prevent it from
testing every employee  randomly. The city has charted a conservative
course in  deciding who qualifies for random testing based on past
court decisions, he said. Macon likely would test more,  as private
companies typically do, if they were allowed  to, he said.

"There's been a desire in having this for the city for  a while," he
said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek