Pubdate: Tue, 18 Apr 2017
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Reid Southwick
Page: A1

OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY WANTS POT BAN IN DANGEROUS JOBS

Worried that dope-smoking workers could cause a "catastrophic event"
at an oil and gas operation, an oilpatch safety group will press the
federal and provincial governments to ban marijuana in hazardous
workplaces after the drug is legalized.

Enform, which is funded by oil and gas industry groups, had raised its
proposed ban with the federal cannabis task force, but the Liberal
government's legislation, released last week, is silent on workplace
safety.

The group will lobby the provinces and Ottawa to harmonize labour
rules to allow for a ban in so-called safety-sensitive workplaces,
such as refineries, gas plants and mines, until drug testing for
cannabis improves.

"If people in safety-sensitive positions, or safety sensitive projects
or work, are not competent to do the work, a catastrophic event could
unfold," Cameron MacGillivray, Enform's chief executive, said Monday.

"That's the sort of thing that causes great concern to the
industry."

Buying marijuana for recreational use is expected to be legal in
Canada by July 2018 after the Liberals introduced legislation on
Thursday. It leaves the federal and provincial governments a little
more than a year to resolve critical questions, including how cannabis
will be distributed and how legalization will impact workplaces.

While labour ministers discuss the implications for workplace safety,
a Calgary employment lawyer said Enform's proposed ban, if imposed,
could be challenged in the courts.

John Batzel, a Bennett Jones lawyer, said while he believes employers
should be allowed to ensure there is no misuse of cannabis in
dangerous workplaces, he expects the courts would be asked to weigh
in.

"There is reasonable likelihood that such as challenge would succeed
based on the current case law," Batzel said.

On-the-job drug testing is considered an invasion of privacy and
potentially discriminatory in many Canadian workplaces, though the
courts have given employers some leeway on job sites where safety -
and sobriety - are critical, including the oilpatch.

Still, current drug testing technology cannot detect whether someone
is impaired by marijuana. Unlike the breathalyzer test for alcohol,
oral swabs and urine screens can only indicate whether someone has
recently smoked or ingested pot, not whether they are high. Until drug
testing can detect intoxication with legal limits, Enform believes
governments must allow employers to impose a zero-tolerance policy in
workplaces where safety is paramount.

While MacGillivray makes the case for more research into drug testing,
his group is also seeking guidance on how employers should handle
workers who are suspected of being high on the job in the meantime.

"This is another thing that we have to be more cognizant of,
especially in the years going forward where people may want to try it
that normally wouldn't believe they should try it in the workplace,"
MacGillivray said.

Barbara Johnston, a Calgary employment lawyer who has represented
companies in drug and alcohol-testing court challenges, agreed with
Enform that there is "an imperative on the government to address this
important concern" of safety in dangerous worksites.

Ottawa acknowledges the cannabis task force that helped inform its
legislation had heard from employers, especially those in health care
and the oil and gas industry, who are worried about workplace safety.

The government says federal, provincial and territorial labour
ministers continue to discuss workplace impacts.

Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray said in a statement the
government would work alongside Ottawa and the provinces to ensure
employers can keep their workplaces safe from high pot smokers who
could cause serious incidents.

Oil and gas companies often demand their new hires, and contractors
who are new to their sites, take drug and alcohol tests. While these
tests have been the target of legal challenges, random screens have
been even more controversial.

Oilsands giant Suncor Energy has been locked in a lengthy court battle
to introduce random drug and alcohol testing at its operations in Fort
McMurray. The company claims the program is necessary because it is
dealing with an "out of control" drug culture," but the union argues
random tests violate privacy rights while failing to ensure safety
because the screens don't detect impairment.

Batzel, the Bennett Jones lawyer, said a Supreme Court ruling on
random alcohol screens laid out the conditions under which this
controversial testing method is permitted, including that there must
be evidence of a general problem of abuse in the workplace.

He believes any workforce ban would likely have to meet a similar
test.

"Before the employees' right to privacy to consume ... a legal drug is
limited, you're going to have to establish that there is a particular
problem in that workplace," Batzel said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt