Distributor for Cable, Pipe & Fault Locating Equipment 160 Pony Drive, Unit 6A Newmarket, ON L3Y 7B6 Tel: 905-715-7303 Fax: 905-715-7305 Toll Free: 1-877-715-7303 Email: info@cablemasterinc.com www.cablemasterinc.com Underground Locates, Equipment Sales, Service & Training Distributor for Cable, Pipe & Fault Locating Equipment 160 Pony Drive, Unit 6A Newmarket, ON L3Y 7B6 Tel: 905-715-7303 Fax: 905-715-7305 Toll Free: 1-877-715-7303 Email: info@cablemasterinc.com www.cablemasterinc.com Underground Locates, Equipment Sales, Service & Training Distributor for Cable, Pipe & Fault Locating Equipment 160 Pony Drive, Unit 6A Newmarket, ON L3Y 7B6 Tel: 905-715-7303 Fax: 905-715-7305 Toll Free: 1-877-715-7303 Email: info@cablemasterinc.com www.cablemasterinc.com Underground Locates, Equipment Sales, Service & Training 5.  Prohibition on possession of drugs and alcohol 6.  Procedure for Suspected Impairment 7.  Drug & Alcohol Testing Procedure 8.  Consequences for Violation of Policy 9. Employee Acknowledgement/ Sign Off * The Duty to Disclose: An impor- tant component of any Fitness for Duty policy is the obligation on employees not to report to work while impaired, regardless of whether the impairment is due to substance abuse, extreme fatigue, personal problems, or any other cause, and further to disclose any impairing prescription drug use or diagnosed or suspected drug and/ or alcohol dependency disorder to the employer before violations of the policy occur. This obligation means that employees who are disciplined for violations of the policy and later claim a drug or alcohol dependence may not be able to establish that they have been discriminated against, if the discipline is based on the failure to report. Also, the obligation on employees to not report to work impaired is part of the shared internal responsibility scheme on which occupational health and safety is based. Occupational health and safety is by design a self-policing model. Pitfalls in Biological Testing: Drug testing, particularly random drug testing, is particularly invasive as the information contained in biological testing can be highly sensitive. In addition, the method- ology for testing for impairment from cannabis is not straightfor- ward. Unlike impairment due to alcohol use, there is no “breatha- lyzer” equivalent for cannabis impairment. Blood and urine tests may show THC concentration, but not necessarily recent cannabis use or, most importantly, impairment. Behavioural Observation: Given the problems with biological testing for impairment, particularly regarding cannabis impairment, behavioural testing, or rather behavioural observation, is likely the more practical option for employers. Training in adminis- tering field sobriety tests that may detect impairment due to cannabis use is available to specialized law enforcement, termed drug recogni- tion experts or “DRE,” but is not yet widely available to employers in North America. Fortunately, employers are also not held to the same kinds of standards as law enforcement, since the legitimate objective of an employer is to identify and remove the risk of impaired workers, rather than to enforce the criminal code. LEGAL INSIGHTS An employer’s best strategy (and in fact, its legal obligation) is to provide for training and procedures for supervisors to observe and document signs of impairment on the job, whatever the cause. From the perspective of the employer/supervisor, the cause of impairment isn’t as important as identifying employees who may be impaired at work, because those employees represent an unaccept- able risk to the safe performance of jobs in safety-sensitive workplaces. It is entirely appropriate – and UNDERGROUNDER Fall 2018 31