Pubdate: Sat, 23 Jun 2012
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: 
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

WORKPLACE TESTS SHOULD HAVE LIMITS

Employees who habitually show up on time, clean and sober, ready and 
able to perform the duties for which they are paid should not be 
asked or required by their employers to submit to drug and alcohol testing.

Unless of course, they accepted random testing as a condition of 
employment at the time of their hiring.

The percentage of employees who arrive at the workplace impaired by 
drugs or alcohol, on the other hand, could pose an unacceptable 
safety risk to themselves, their fellow workers and the company they 
represent. In the case of oilsands workers who are under the 
influence, they may also present a risk to the environment and 
therefore, the public at large.

Given those parameters, employees who have in the past exhibited 
signs of impairment from drugs or alcohol should be targeted by 
Suncor, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Total E&P Canada, the 
oilsands companies that on Wednesday announced their participation in 
a two-year pilot project that could result in the random testing of 
thousands of workers.

The Drug and Alcohol Risk Reduction Pilot Project will begin its 
testing regimen as early as this fall. The point of the project, 
according to administrator Pat Atkins, is to provide an impetus for 
employees to make responsible choices.

"Workers know there is a possibility of having a random test any day. 
If they're thinking, hmm, should I have one beer or should I have 
more, they're kind of thinking, you never know, there could be a 
test. . What we're trying to get is personal accountability."

If that employee is mulling over a number of beers before work, the 
company that employs him does indeed have a problem, and it's likely 
more cultural than one of personal accountability. And that much 
larger picture seems to be the motivation behind Suncor's 
participation in the testing project.

Suncor has said it will begin random tests of employees in 
"safety-sensitive" jobs in October in response to concerns it has discovered.

"We have identified pressing workplace safety concerns in the Wood 
Buffalo region related to alcohol and drugs," a Suncor spokesperson 
told the Calgary Herald earlier this week. (Random testing) is 
necessary just to make sure that workers go home safely to their 
families at the end of shift."

If Suncor has a problem with the condition of its workforce, there is 
a good chance that other oilsands companies have discovered the same 
thing. Those companies have processes in place that allow them, on a 
case-by-case basis, to deal with or remove individuals found to be 
impaired on the job. In general, they should be allowed to test those 
workers whose behaviour or appearance has caused concerns.

But widespread testing of an entire workforce, even if prompted by 
reasonable suspicion that a culture of drug and alcohol use exists, 
is an unjust invasion of the privacy of responsible employees. The 
presumption of innocence ought to take precedence.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom