DRUG, ALCOHOL STAFF TESTING FAZES BOSSES

EMPLOYERS face a range of problems when trying to ensure their workplace is
drug and alcohol free, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA.

The chamber's manager of construction services, Peter Cooke, said such
tests were well set up in the mining sector but not in other industries.

Mr Cooke said certain unions, particularly in the fabrication and
electrical areas, opposed testing.

About 1300 Australian Manufacturing Workers Union members at the Burrup
Peninsula went on strike for 24 hours on Monday after a welder was asked to
take a breath test on Saturday.

The strike was called because the testing - negative as it turned out -
went against union policy.

Mr Cooke said the chamber would run a seminar today on the issue of
testing. It would examine problems employers faced in conducting tests.

Key issues would include how employers could stop accidents related to
alcohol and drugs, whether testing could create new problems and whether it
compromised employee privacy.

Mr Cooke said if an employer's workforce objected to testing, unions could
become involved and industrial action could follow.

He said it was ironic that unions demanded a safe work environment but did
not fully support the tests.

"If the workforce accepts it, that's fine and the union won't get
involved," he said. "But if people object and they want to take it
further, they will get the suport of the unions. There are a lot of
difficulties for employers."

Mr Cooke said the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union had a
policy of no tests but agreed to safety committees being formed to evaluate
whether a worker was affected by drugs or alcohol.

The committee was made up of union and employer representatives and
interviewed workers suspected of being affected.

No disciplinary action was taken against affected workers if they agreed to
counselling.

UnionsWA secretary Stephanie Mayman said a key concern was that drug and
alcohol tests were not aimed at determining if a person was fit to work.

The issue had to be negotiated on a case-by-case basis between individual
employers and unions. Employers were using safety as an excuse to test
workers but some common drugs such as codeine returned positive results.

"The issue is up to individual unions and employers," she said. "Current
testing is not adequate to determine what employers are seeking to achieve.

"They say they seek to establish which employees are unsafe to work, but
that is not possible. Issues range from how the tests are collected to
what is done with the results.

"My position is that no worker should be on the job who is unsafe."