This summer, a monumental agreement was signed in British Columbia. The Substance Abuse Testing and Treatment Program Policy was signed by the Construction Labour Relations Association (CLRA) of B.C. and the Bargaining Council of B.C. Building Trades Unions. This agreement requires workers to be tested after an accident or near miss or if there is reasonable suspicion of on-the-job impairment.
Until now, many companies in British Columbia have been hesitant to allow employee drug testing to occur, fearing that it may tread of employee’s rights. This recent move, is beginning to reflect a change in the thought’s of employers.
The Construction Labour Relations Association and the Bargaining Council of British Columbia Building Trades Unions heralded the policy as the first industry-wide pact on substance abuse in Canada.
Much like their neighbors in Alberta, British Columbian companies are beginning to realize the negative effects of drug use and impairment in the work place. The move towards testing employee’s post-incident, is beginning to pave the way to an embrace of pre-employment screening in safety-sensitive positions.
It is my belief that the more pre-employment drug screening that a company undertakes, the less likely they will be performing post-incident drug tests. If company’s can prevent incident’s from happenning, rather then discipling employee’s when they do, is this not a more effective strategy to workplace safety?
While this agreement, is a tremendous step in the right direction, more needs to be done in an effort to promote workplace safety.
I commend those who signed The Substance Abuse Testing and Treatment Program Policy, but I emplore them to continue the efforts in British Columbia.
Tags: alcohol testing, british columbia drug testing, employee drug testing, oral fluid drug testing