BC Ferries riding "high"?

[Widow]

Marijuana use by B.C. Ferries crew prompts call for random drug tests12 hours ago

VICTORIA - Canada's transportation safety watchdog warned Wednesday of widespread marijuana use by BC Ferries crew members on the company's northern routes, a revelation that had the government-owned ferry operator calling for mandatory and random drug testing.

The Transportation Safety Board said the information surfaced in the investigation into the sinking of the Queen of the North in March 2006, which killed two passengers.

"We interviewed enough people who told us the crews were regularly smoking cannabis and a pattern began to emerge," spokesman John Cottreau said from Gatineau, Que. The follow-up interviews, however, turned up no evidence the bridge crew on the former BC Ferries flagship was high.

The TSB is not expected to issue its final report on the sinking until early next year.

BC Ferries president David Hahn said he was disappointed the board didn't include with its warning a recommendation to Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon urging the government to consider U.S.-style mandatory and random drug testing for workers in safety-sensitive positions on all ferries in Canada.

"They could do that," said Hahn, adding it's the kind of tool needed to augment BC Ferries' existing zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy, adopted early in 2005.

"There has to be a balanced type approach to this. You don't want to trample human rights but I think public safety supercedes human rights in this case."

The head of the union representing ferry workers was cautiously supportive of the warning, calling the agency responsible and diligent in revealing a compelling safety concern.

"However, I think that to put all of the responsibility for addressing this issue on a single ferry operator in the country is a bit shortsighted," said Jackie Miller, president of the B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union.

Miller said drug and alcohol use and abuse is an issue in all sectors of the transportation industry, and in many other safety-sensitive work environments.

She said she is concerned the board has in effect singled out the domestic passenger ferry industry.

"That sends a very inaccurate and incorrect message to the general public that the only place they aren't safe is on domestic passenger vessels," she said.

"I have no direct knowledge of drug use on the northern ships, or anywhere else," she said, adding that BC Ferries and its workers represent a slice of society like any other large company.

The union and BC Ferries were already working on redrafting the company's drug and alcohol policies as part of an overall safety review prior to the TSB issuing its warning, she said.

She was also worried about talk of adopting U.S.-style random drug testing.

"Safety of the public is paramount, and needs to be protected, but at the same time we have to balance that with the rights of the individual," she said.

"The Americans are using some particular methods that are unacceptable, quite frankly, in Canada and we will be very strongly opposed to some of those methods."

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was also not convinced adopting American anti-drug procedures was the way to go.

"The problem is a real one and it's one we have to confront," he said. "I think it's important to recognize we have a different legal regime than they have in the United States."

But he said B.C. is prepared top work closely with the federal government and the TSB to ensure there are proper measures to ensure passenger safety.

Fiona Macleod, a spokeswoman with Transport Canada, said there are regulations governing the use of drugs and alcohol by operators of all transportation modes.

But the department does not have the mandate to carry out drug testing on crew members.

"Enforcing mandatory drug testing is extremely difficult due to a number of entrenched rights," she said, adding the Canadian Human Rights Commission is in the process of reviewing its policy.

She also said if Transport Canada determines that a vessel was or is being operated by someone who is impaired, that ship would be "detained" and the case would be referred to the RCMP for investigation.

The Queen of the North was lightly loaded when it failed to make a critical course change in the early hours of March 22, 2006, while southbound from Prince Rupert to Vancouver Island. The 125-metre-long ship had a capacity of 700 passengers and 115 cars.

Ninety-nine of the 101 aboard were rescued before the ferry sank, just over an hour after ripping open its hull when it slammed full speed into Gil Island, about 150 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.

Shirley Rosette and Gerald Foisy, a couple taking their first trip on a ferry, were never found.

Earlier this year BC Ferries fired three of the bridge crew after releasing results of an internal investigation that found the deck watch failed to maintain a proper lookout. It also revealed recordings of radio transmissions from the bridge of the ship indicated that there was music playing in the wheelhouse shortly before the grounding.

Two weeks ago, Ferries released an addendum to that report, saying two workers stepped up after the release of the findings of that earlier internal probe and told the company they overheard the quartermaster say she was alone on the bridge when the ferry struck Gil Island.

That, and other information obtained over the summer, prompted the TSB to "restart the clock" on the release of its long-awaited report into the ferry disaster.

Canadian Press

[sky's the limit]

Widow,

As a fellow Ferry user, surely you must see how that job can ONLY be done stoned...

You want to see the tree planters and crew boat drivers....Lol


stl

[Inverted2]

A pre-requisite of being a tree planter is to be stoned!!

[flyinphil]

I think a bigger problem is inhaling auto exhaust on the car decks while loading and unloading all day. Good thing its only the First Mate not the Skipper!

[ScudRunner]

The must shipping it to! I noticed they have a sign on the Boards at GM Place

[CD]

Here are two opposing articles on this issue...

July 5, 2007

PSAC Wins Drug Testing Grievance

Toronto – Random workplace drug testing is intrusive and an unreasonable exercise of management rights an arbitrator ruled on June 28. The policy grievance against the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) was launched by PSAC for Local 00004 in February 2001.

The GTAA’s Drug and Alcohol Testing Policy, which was developed and implemented without union input, cast a wide net and called for provocative measures such as random drug testing involving urine samples, pre-appointment testing and the imposition of discipline upon a positive test. Noting that a positive drug test does not indicate impairment, the Arbitrator also rejected employer arguments that positive tests legitimately alert the employer to increased safety risks.

Highlighting the disconnect between drug test results, impairment and safety, the Arbitrator pointed to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Meiorin and ruled that the employer could not justify the discriminatory aspects of the policy because the testing could not be shown to be reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of a work-related purpose.

The ruling follows on several years of persistent work by PSAC local union representatives supported by union staff and union legal counsel.

“This is a step forward for the rights of workers at GTAA and at every other airport across Canada. Management crossed the line with the imposition of these tests. The arbitrator’s decision sends a clear message that our members have the right to work in dignity against invasive examinations that violate their personal privacy,” said Gerry Halabecki, Regional Executive Vice-president for the PSAC in Ontario.

PSAC Local 00004 represents 720 administrative, maintenance, safety and trades workers at the GTAA.

http://www.psac.com/news/2007/releases/23-0707-e.shtml

Ferry operators says tough-on-drugs Conservative government must act now

20 Oct, 3:16 PM

VICTORIA - Canada's ferry operators want the Conservative government to apply its tough-on-drugs policy to legislate mandatory random drug testing not just in their sector but across the Canadian transportation industry.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon says ferry companies already have the power to test workers for drug use after BC Ferries was rocked by revelations by the Transportation Safety Board last week that some of its crew members smoked pot on the job.

But ferry companies appear to want a legislated crackdown.

"I don't believe that we have to wait for the TSB to make a recommendation," said Capt. David Miller, president of the Canadian Ferry Operators Association. "Let's move now, before somebody does lose a life."

That view is backed by BC Ferries president David Hahn, who says ferry operators need clarification from Ottawa.

"We're not looking for a public debate on whether there should be this type of testing, but action," Hahn told The Canadian Press.

"I know I'm pushing the envelope with the people in Ottawa, but quite frankly, this agenda needs to be pushed. There needs to be clear direction around public safety."

The issue came into sharp focus when the safety board issued an extraordinary warning in the final stage of its review into last year's sinking of BC Ferries' Queen of the North.

The ship carrying 101 passengers and crew ran aground after failing to make a late-night course change a few hours after leaving North Coast port of Prince Rupert. It sank with the loss of two passengers.

The board published a notice last week saying its review had turned up evidence crew members regularly smoked pot between shifts, both on and off the ship.

The board stressed there was no evidence crew members on the bridge of the doomed ferry were high when it slammed into Gil Island, tearing a long gash in its hull and causing it to sink in just over an hour.

But as a result of follow-up interviews by its investigators, the board felt that pot smoking may not have been restricted to BC Ferries' former flagship.

There was evidence it may be a problem in the company's northern fleet, where crew live aboard the ships for several days at a time.

BC Ferries has had a zero-tolerance for drug use since 2005 and Hahn said people have been fired when caught.

But he said it's a much bigger issue and can't be restricted to ferry operators.

His company, which transports more than 20 million passengers annually, was already revising its existing alcohol-and drug-awareness education and rehabilitation programs when the board issued its warning.

Hahn said he is certain that if the top 50 leaders in Canadian transportation companies were asked if they want mandatory drug and alcohol testing, they'd say "Give us the legislation, we'll implement it tomorrow."

"That's the backbone that needs to be built into this process," he said, adding that Canada is a decade behind most other countries on drug testing.

Ferry crews on ships in neighbouring Alaska and Washington are subject to mandatory testing under federal law, Hahn pointed out.

After the board's report, Cannon issued a statement that the government "has a clear tough-on-drugs agenda" and he would write to all ferry operators in Canada to "remind them of their powers related to regular drug testing of their employees."

It offered little comfort to Hahn, who said Transport Canada has made it clear that enforcing mandatory drug testing is extremely difficult due to a number of entrenched rights.

He's anxious for Cannon's letter to arrive because there appears to be a "grey area" about what his company can do.

"They're telling (us) that the law is not clear," Hahn said. "And that's what we're looking for, clarity around the law to back up and make our program even more successful."

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Human Rights Commission said policies regarding mandatory drug testing are being revised.

Senior policy adviser Karen Izzard said certain types of mandatory drug testing are taking place in Canada.

For instance, trucking companies whose drivers regularly cross the border and become subject to testing under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations have been able to argue that it is a genuine occupational requirement.

But elsewhere, companies adopting mandatory and/or random drug testing still run the risk of human rights complaints.

Izzard said specific federal legislation could circumvent that.

"I think that if there was that legislation then employers would be in a much better position to withstand human rights scrutiny," she said from Ottawa.

The warning about the use of marijuana by BC Ferries crew did not come as a complete shock.

Miller noted that by all accounts recreational drug use across society appears to be on the rise, and the same could be true in the ferry fleet.

"They finger the Queen of the North but I'd be awfully surprised if it wasn't elsewhere," he said .

B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, seemed to react to the safety board's warning as if it had stated the obvious.

"I don't think there is anyone in the province that thinks marijuana use is probably a new thing on BC Ferries," he said.

Falcon balked at Hahn's demand for federally legislated mandatory testing. But he said he will work with BC Ferries and its major union this week "so that we can come forward with a position to take to the federal minister, if necessary, to bring about changes to make sure the public is safe."

[sky's the limit]

Ah yes,

The old American(or insert oppressive regime of your choice) trick of abandoning individual Human Rights for the greater good....

You can't drive a 15kt boat on a little grass... well, perhaps you're not cut out for the job in the first place.


stl

[CD]

.

Pilots to be screened for drugs and alcohol (Australia)

PILOTS flying domestic and international routes will be subjected to random alcohol and drug tests for the first time from early next year.

A blood-alcohol content less than 0.02 per cent will be set for pilots and tests for cocaine, cannabis, opioids and amphetamines will be conducted under the long-anticipated changes to aviation safety standards.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has been negotiating the new standards with aviation industry representatives for four years, but the changes will now be introduced just months before the Government-sponsored random drug testing of elite sportsmen and women.

It is also likely to increase pressure for emergency and essential service industries and personnel to tackle alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace.

Drug and alcohol testing for the Australian aviation industry was recommended by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau after a fatal accident on Hamilton Island in September 2002.

While the bureau was not able to conclusively establish the reasons for the crash, the then federal transport minister, John Anderson, warned it was time to consider the "impacts of alcohol and drug use on aviation safety".

The current regulations prohibit flight crew from being under the influence of drugs and alcohol, but the system is self-regulatory. The US already conducts random testing and in Britain there is a legal blood alcohol limit of less than 0.02 per cent.

The pilots' federation wants to see the standards enforced across the aviation industry to include engineers, maintenance workers, catering staff and parts manufacturers and suppliers.

Their argument highlights other debates over workplace drug testing, including a five-year stand-off between the Victoria Police and the Police Association.

Victoria's police force has no drug or alcohol testing regime, although random testing is conducted in other states when there is a reasonable suspicion an officer is under the influence or impaired while on duty.

Meanwhile, Qantas flight crews have been affected by toxic cancer-causing fumes on international flights — and pilots are warning that there could be a disaster.

An engineer was off work for a week after inhaling toxic fumes on the flight deck of a Qantas Boeing 747 flying from Los Angeles to Auckland in July.

Pilots on other airlines have blacked out at the controls of their jets because of the build-up of toxic fumes in the cockpit. Passengers are also exposed to the carcinogenic toxicants in the cabin.

Australian International Pilots Association general manager Peter Somerville said: "People don't need to stop flying but there is a problem and it needs to be fixed."

The problem stems from a cost-cutting design in jet aircraft that bleeds warm air off the engines and pumps it straight into the cabin without any filtration.

If the engine has an oil leak, the warm air that enters the cabin is laced with chemicals that attack the nervous system and can cause brain damage.

Full article here...