Over 300 safety practitioners responded to the survey. Most of them (72 per cent) don’t have a drug and alcohol testing program at their workplace. In some companies that do have a testing policy (27 per cent), enforcements are limited to pre-employment and post-incident testing.

Those who responded in the positive say the environment or industry in which they operate requires them to have an employee testing program in place.

Some respondents raise privacy as an issue. “Human rights legislation for those who are guilty are strong and too big a risk at this time for many companies, in my opinion, to create an effective policy.”

“Testing does not prove that a worker cannot do his work safely, it only proves the presence or lack thereof of a substance,” says another respondent.

“Company has been advised that we cannot justify the policy before a court.”

One respondent had some positive inputs. “Our company has had a program in place since 1992. It has been tested in the courts and at human rights hearings and has been continually upgraded to ensure it has integrity on a legal and human rights level.”

Twenty-two per cent of respondents say their company plans to implement workplace drug and alcohol testing, with some of them indicating a wait-and-see approach either on the legislative front or in overcoming current challenges.

“(We’re) looking at pre-employment testing, complemented by program for testing when circumstance would warrant additional testing,” says one respondent.

“Contemplating it, but not sure how to do it, exactly. Researching it to see how other companies are doing it successfully.”

“Currently, (we’re) reviewing legal implications of such a program – but concerned about the increasing need for a program.”

Some respondents, however, are not too keen on starting   a drug an alcohol program in their organization. “Too many companies are influenced by a small number of offenders to start treating all employees as offenders. It is a total non-starter as an idea.