DRUG TESTS PLANNED FOR BUILDING TRADES

Construction Firms And Unions Reach Agreement For Mandatory Monitoring

Workers on unionized construction sites in B.C. will be subject to
mandatory drug testing under an agreement negotiated by construction
companies and unions.

The agreement includes mandatory testing for workers suspected of
being intoxicated on the job or who are involved in any workplace
accident that could have resulted from being impaired.

The policy was negotiated between the Construction Labour Relations
Association (CLRA), representing companies, and the Bargaining Council
of B.C. Building Trades Unions. It is aimed at improving safety in an
industry with a reputation for higher-than-average on-the-job drug
use. An industry official said it will establish a standard policy in
the province before several large-scale industrial construction
projects get started.

"We needed to come up with a policy before major projects started
coming to B.C. on the industrial side," said CLRA president Clyde
Scollan, adding that industrial construction projects often require
that workers be drug-tested before they are hired.

"We could see on the horizon there was more industrial work coming,"
he said, adding B.C. now has about 35,000 unionized construction workers.

One project in the pipeline is a $2-billion upgrade to Rio Tinto
Alcan's smelter in Kitimat, which Scollan said has already adopted the
new drug-testing policy.

Mark Olsen, president of the union bargaining council, could not be
reached Thursday, but said in a news release he supports the policy.

"Construction work is dangerous enough without the added perils of
having impaired workers on the job site," he said.

Under the policy, employees who show signs of impairment on the job
site can be tested for alcohol and nine other drugs including cocaine,
methadone and marijuana.

An employee will be considered positive for marijuana only if his or
her test reveals impairment while on the job, as opposed to evidence
of use outside of work.

"We opted for a non-invasive testing policy which is designed to
measure possible current impairment on the job, not what you did last
week," said Olsen.

While there is no official statistical measure of drug use among B.C.
construction workers, anecdotal evidence suggests it is a significant
problem.

In a Sun investigation last year, when workers were asked what
proportion of people on their site they think have a problem with
drugs or alcohol, they said anywhere between 40 and 80 per cent.

The investigation found that the majority of the 150-something men a
year who use the unions' rehabilitation program now come in with a
crack addiction. One heavy equipment operator, Jim Brown, indicated
that when he started in the construction field two decades ago, he was
only one of a few men who was doing hard drugs.

"When I was doing it, no one else was. Now everybody is," Brown said
at the time.

Some, including Calvin Bowe, who once worked while supporting his
$100-a-day heroin addiction, said that due to the labour shortage,
even a heavy drug user wouldn't get fired as long as he showed up on
time, didn't miss too many days, didn't get caught using on the job,
and didn't drop anything on his co-workers.

Dave Stewart, senior manager of investigations with WorkSafeBC, said
his organization is surveying workers about impairment at construction
sites, including use of illegal and prescription drugs, and lack of
sleep.

Scollan said under the new program, employers will pay for the initial
test, and results could take up to 24 hours to process. He said
workers who test positive can't return to work until they are cleared
by a doctor specializing in substance abuse. Workers may also be
required to go through counselling, and would be subject to follow-up
testing for two years. Scollan said the companies and unions have also
agreed on a related program that will allow workers to pre-qualify so
they don't have to be tested over and over again at work sites that
require screening.

He said almost all major construction projects in Alberta now require
mandatory drug tests to pre-screen workers when they are hired. He was
not aware of any such programs in B.C., but said the Rio Tinto Alcan
project will introduce it in the province.

Workers in the pre-screening program will take an initial test and
then agree to be tested at random any time within a three-year period.

In exchange, they will be assumed to be clean and will be able to
start work on participating job sites without having to be tested for
each job.