Some of the challenges, however, may be resolved through an effective communication strategy. “Once this was discussed with the employees there was buy-in from them.
Workers have expressed their concerns working with others who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” comments one respondent.

Majority of our survey respondents believe safety should always come first and that striking a balance between promoting workplace safety and protecting an individual’s right to privacy can be achieved.

“Union/employee support is a major requirement. The worker needs company support for privacy and rehabilitation,” says one reader panelist.

“Whatever an individual does in their own time is their business, as long as it does not interfere with the ability to function and perform work duties safely and maintain respect for their co-workers.”

“If you are using drugs you are endangering your life and the lives of your fellow employees. Drug use and addiction is a major problem on worksites and it will not stop unless we are allowed to do pre-employment and random screening,” adds another respondent.

A small percentage of those who answered our survey (five per cent) believe that any type of drug and alcohol testing is a violation of employee privacy.

“As long as they are not impaired at work, I do not believe that we should be telling our employees how to live their lives at home,” comments one reader.

Many believe the enactment of legislation that would govern workplace drug and alcohol testing in Canada would solve many of the concerns around testing. About 62 per cent say they welcome such legislation, while 14 per cent favors a status quo.

“The CHRC, following the decision in Autocar, promised to issue a revised policy statement this past spring. This would open up the door for the passing of legislation affecting people in safety sensitive positions. It is now closing in on a year later with no word on what the CHRC’s intentions are. When will they recognize that people’s RIGHTS to safety at work bear priority over their RIGHT to engage in illegal activity on their own time?”

A piece of advice for those in power offered by one survey respondent: “Whenever machinery, forklifts, road ways, trucks, gas, propane etc. of that nature are involved, testing should be mandatory. If the government was truly, truly concerned about workers’ safety while on the job, random testing pools should be mandatory. It’s not a disease like cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s etc. It all started with a choice that person made. We are behind the times in this area of safety.”

Other comments:
“The testing protocols are not proper and standard. The real problem is that they may not indicate when the alcohol or drug was taken. It has issues in terms of validity and reliability of the tests. The best way is to get the medical and legal professioinal together and recommend a standard protocol.”

“It’s a fine line we walk, but our drivers are in a safety-sensitive job and we have a responsibility to protect them, the public and the company.”

“A workers’ right to privacy needs to end when that worker’s consumption of drugs or
alcohol affects their ability to work safely. The rights of other workers to be protected from injuries caused by workers who consume drugs or alcohol need to take precedent over the individual workers’ privacy.”

“Canadian legislation needs to reflect the protection of workers and the public where safety and risk sensitive tasks are performed. In safety sensitive occupations there needs to be a legislative recognition that it is a bona fide occupational requirement for workers to be drug- and alcohol-free while performing their high-risk work.”