ALBERTA BUILDERS PONDER RANDOM DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING

EDMONTON - Alberta's booming construction industry is looking at
changing its safe-workplace guidelines to include random drug and
alcohol tests for employees.

The proposal is part of a review by the Construction Owners
Association of Alberta of its current workplace practices, which do
not include random drug testing.

Employers and union leaders taking part in the review are grappling to
balance a push for safer work sites with employees' legal rights.

Bob Blakely, director of Canadian affairs of the building and
construction trades department, AFL-CIO, sits on the review committee.
He said a random drug test policy could work if it followed strict
rules.

But he added such testing is bound to end up in the courts and result
in complaints to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which says
blanket random testing is discriminatory.

"What it comes down to is this: Is my right to ingest some
intoxicating substance more important than your right to go home alive
at the end of the day from work?" he said.

Alcohol and drug testing is already taking place at some Alberta work
sites, especially in the energy and construction industries.

Human-rights tribunals in Ontario and Alberta have ruled that
employers may test workers in safety-sensitive positions or after an
accident.