Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 29/02) - A recently revised Canadian 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 pipe-lines 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 Grangier, spokesperson for Northwes-Tel, said the commission's policy will not affect her company because it does not randomly test for drugs.

But many exploration and drilling companies do conduct random drug test in the North.

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, based in 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 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."

Drug testing is not keeping away people who want to work but use recreational drugs.

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 its random drug-testing policy last year pending new technologies that put drug tests on equal footing with alcohol tests.

Hart Searle, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, said an Ontario Court of Appeal 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 Burling-ame, spokesperson for BHP Billiton.