Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 26/02) - A recently revised Human Rights Commission policy prohibiting random drug testing on workers will have a limited effect in the North where that type of testing is common.

The revised policy affects only federally regulated work places, said Michelle Shipman, spokesperson for the commission in Ottawa.

Federally regulated work places include telecommunications, cross border trucking, crown corporations and federal departments.

Shipman said cross provincial-territorial trucking and pipelines could fall under the commission's scope.

The commission criticized random drug testing as flawed. It said drug testing only shows a person's previous exposure to drugs not whether a person is fit to work. Alcohol testing is allowed for safety sensitive work, according to the commission.

Anne Kennedy Grainger, spokesperson for NorthwesTel, said the commission's policy will not affect her company because they do not randomly drug test.

Many exploration and drilling companies randomly drug test in the North.

For and against testing

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), based out of Inuvik, supports drug testing.

"We struggle with a duty under occupational health legislation," said Craig Kushner, corporate secretary for Akita Drilling Ltd. "(The human rights legislation) and occupational health legislation are in conflict."

Calgary based Akita operates two drilling rigs during the winter in the Beaufort Delta in a joint venture with IRC.

Kushner said workers at Akita camps operate very dangerous machinery.

It is in the best interest of the workers to have tight screening, he said.

"The risks inherent in operating with someone who could be abusing substances is far too great to ignore," said Kushner. "We can't afford to take risks."

Kushner said 80 per cent of workers who failed a random drug test passed a retest after their suspension.

Akita will continue to drug test its workers, said Kushner, who doesn't think they are open to litigation.

"(Since 1993) we have never been challenged once," said Kushner.

"When someone is abusing a substance they recognize they are creating a hazard."

Imperial Oil, which has extensive operations in Norman Wells, suspended their random drug testing policy last year until it finds new technologies that puts drug testing on equal footing with alcohol testing.

Hart Searle, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, said an Ontario Appeals Court ruling against the company's drug testing policy forced the company to rethink its options.

BHP Billiton also scrapped its drug testing policy last year and conducts no pre-employment screening apart from a physical, said Denise Burlingame, spokesperson for BHP Billiton.