PRISON OFFICERS RESIST 'CRAZY' PLAN FOR BREATH TESTS

For the first time breathalyser tests are to be done in the workplace outside the transport sector under a programme to reduce alcohol abuse in the Prison Service.

The plans, which could be extended to all areas of the Civil Service, ban any drinking during the working day or at any time in the eight hours before coming on duty.

Industry experts said they believed the programme represented the first proposed widespread use of alcohol breathalysers in the workplace.

Last night the Prison Officers' Association (POA) called the plans "crazy" and said it would resist their introduction.

Prison officers, teachers, administrative staff, probation officers and gardeners working in prisons will be told not to drink more than seven units (three and a half pints of beer) in the 16-hour period before coming to work. Anyone suspected of breaching the rules will have to have a breath test. Any reading of 15 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath ­ just under a pint of beer, or two glasses of wine ­ will be judged positive. The legal drink driving limit is 35 micrograms.

Prison officers will also be banned from purchasing alcohol while wearing their uniform or identification badge.

Mark Healy, the POA's chairman, said: "This is crazy. We are vehemently opposed to the use of alcohol in the workplace but they are treating us like children, not mature adults."

The Prison Service policy also says staff will be subjected to random drugs testing. The urine drugs tests will highlight use of NHS-prescribed drugs such as methadone and barbiturates as well as illicit substances. Any prospective Prison Service employee will also be required to give a urine test after their interview and will be refused a job if it is positive.

The policy was drawn up after concern over the conduct of officers using staff drinking clubs and fears that alcohol and drugs problems were linked to high absenteeism.

The Industrial Society, which monitors workplace developments, said the policy was a "very strong response". Pat McGuinness, the society's health and safety specialist, said: "I have not heard of anything like this except for people flying fast jets, where judgement is so fine that drinking would endanger human life."

Harry Fletcher, of the National Association of Probation Officers, said that he believed the Prison Service policy was likely to be extended to other government departments. "Ministers believe the threat of the sack is an effective tool in cutting drug and alcohol use but this kind of punitive policy could well result in nobody being judged fit for work."

The Prison Service said the plans would be discussed with staff unions before being implemented. A spokeswoman said: "The presence of staff under the influence of alcohol is a threat to good order, discipline and health and can be a threat to security."