2-year evaluation will monitor introduction of random workplace testing
Alberta’s oilsands and energy and construction industries are participating in a Drug and Alcohol Risk Reduction Pilot Project (DARRPP), a two-year initiative to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of comprehensive workplace alcohol and drug programs that will include random workplace testing.
The project’s mandate is to establish best practices for random workplace alcohol and drug testing for safety sensitive sites and positions, and develop guidelines for processes such as case management, assessment and followup. Working from a shared model, participating employers will introduce and monitor random workplace testing programs and share statistics related to their implementation.
Over the summer and early fall, participating companies will be putting appropriate testing systems and processes in place, with implementation of pilot testing programs expected in late 2012 and early 2013. DARRPP will report its findings and recommendations to the participants, government and other stakeholders in 2014, with a goal of recommending a useful industry policy framework based on the results of the pilot.
“Alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace is an unfortunate reality in our society, and it poses serious risks to the individuals involved, their co-workers, families and communities,” said Pat Atkins, DARRPP administrator. “The addition of this pilot project builds on existing industry programs and policies and represents an important step forward in our approach to improving workplace safety.”
Along with effective safety training, sound policies and procedures, and disciplined incident reporting, alcohol and drug testing programs in the workplace can lead to measurable improvements in safety, said Atkins.
Random testing has been proven to have a positive impact on workplace and public safety in other jurisdictions. Since 1995, when the United States Federal Transit Administration implemented mandatory alcohol and drug testing in the transportation industry, positive tests for employees subjected to random testing have declined by nearly 50 per cent.
And a long-term U.S. study of the involvement of alcohol in fatal crashes in the trucking industry concluded that the implementation of random alcohol testing was found to be associated with a 23 per cent reduction in fatal crashes involving large trucks.
Major oilsands and construction industry employers already use pre-site access, reasonable cause and post-incident testing. By monitoring the results of random testing programs of participating Alberta employers, DARRPP will find they are a significant deterrent to alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace, said Atkins.
DARRPP participants will balance the need to reduce safety risks with the responsibility to uphold human rights and privacy.
“Participating employers will all have alcohol and drug programs that ensure employees who test positive are treated fairly and receive appropriate aftercare if they are dependent,” said Atkins. “This will have the additional benefit of prompting people who have dependencies to get help.”
During the two years leading up to the project’s launch, DARRPP’s founders solicited input from human rights and privacy agencies and independent experts, including the Alberta Human Rights Commission and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, to make sure the pilot addressed social concerns and legal requirements.
DARRPP participants include:
•Building and Construction Trades Canada
•Christian Labour Association of Canada
•Canadian Natural Resources Limited
•Construction Labour Relations — Alberta
•Construction Owners Association of Alberta
•Oil Sands Safety Association
•Progressive Contractors Association of Canada
•Suncor Energy
•Total E&P Canada.
