ALCOHOL AND DRUG TESTING FOR TRUCKERS

An industry-led initiative means logging drivers could face more
rigorous drug and alcohol testing within the year.

The Safety Accord Forestry Enterprise (SAFE) Companies initiative was
announced mid-January, coming on the back of a year in which 43 forest
workers died in the province.

One of these was logging truck driver Lloyd Booth who was killed when
his loaded truck went off the side of Raspberry Road, northwest of
Houston Dec. 8.

A B.C. Coroners Service report said marijuana was found in his
blood.

Of the 20 action items in the initiative is a recommendation to
develop pre-qualification standards.

B.C. Forest Safety Council TruckSafe project manager Mary Anne Arcand
said alcohol and drug testing will be part of this.

"The SAFE Companies initiative is starting with pilots this spring and
will be fully implemented by 2007. Then the drug and alcohol piece is
going to have to work in with that."

However, it is going to be an uphill struggle implementing mandatory
testing, she said.

"Moving from first introducing the idea to actually getting it in
place is not going to be easy."

In order to make the changes mandatory there will have to be
regulation changes, she said, adding human rights and training for
testing will be factors in the debate.

Although testing is far from across the board, Arcand pointed to some
companies, such as international forest products company Weyerhaeuser,
who test their own drivers.

"They entered into an agreement with the union for this and they have
four test points."

These are pre-employment, post-incident, random testing in addition to
criteria for suspicion of impairment.

This will be one of the models looked at in the implementation of the
SAFE initiatives in which contractors and mills will be asked to share
the responsibility, she said.