Marine Log - November 2007 - (Page 2) November 2007 Vol. 112 No. 11 John R. Snyder Editor ISSN 08970491 MARINELOG amcginnis@sbpub.com USPS 576-910 editorial PUBLISHER Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & EDITOR John R. Snyder jsnyder@sbpub.com SENIOR EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Nicholas Blenkey nblenkey@sbpub.com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Shirley Del Valle sdelvalle@sbpub.com nkitchen@msn.com Is mandatory and random drug testing the answer? Transportation Safety Board of Canada “board concern” has set off alarms at B.C. Ferries. The board concern was issued on Oct. 17 in relation to the ongoing investigation into the sinking of the Queen of the North in 2006. As you might recall, the March 2006 sinking of the Queen of the North resulted in the rescue of 99 passengers, with two others unaccounted for and presumed dead. The board concern—which is not a formal report—highlighted marijuana use by several crew members of the Queen of the North. The board said some crew members regularly smoked marijuana between shifts, both on board and off the vessel. The TSB stressed that there is no evidence that the crew members on the bridge at the time of the accident were impaired. A full report on the Queen of the North accident won’t be released until 2008. In a press release, TSB chair person Wendy A. Tadros said, “Ferry crews whose performance is impaired by cannabis are a clear risk to the travelling public. We are confident that BC Ferries will determine the extent of the problem and effectively manage this risk so it will not lead to a serious accident,” she added. B.C. Ferries president and CEO David L. Hahn has called on Canada to adopt similar legislation to the U.S. transportation industry regarding CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Nigel Kitchen MARKETING DIRECTOR Peter Sexton psexton@sbpub-chicago.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Wendy Williams wwilliams@sbpub.com A mandatory and random drug testing. Hahn stated that if cannabis was being used by any crew members of the Queen of the North, or any other vessel, it is a clear violation of the company’s zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy. While public safety is clearly a concern, what makes the issue more complicated is that employees must live aboard the northern vessels, which the Queen of the North was, for days at a time. BC Ferries’ stated policy is that crew members are not allowed to consume or even to have in their possession alcohol or other mood-altering substances for the entire period of time while they are on the ship. But is mandatory or random drug testing the answer? In an editorial on Legaltree.ca, Robert Smithson, an attorney based in British Columbia, writes, “Mandatory drug testing effectively presumes guilt. If every employee must submit to testing on a regular or random basis, that is an indication of suspicion that each and every employee may have used intoxicating substances. By presuming that employees may have an addiction issue, mandatory testing offends the human rights protections which exist in every jurisdiction in Canada.” ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Phil Desiere pdesiere@sbpub.com ART PRODUCTION MANAGER Todd Blanchard tblanchard@sbpub.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mary Conyers-Brown mbrown@sbpub.com NATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR Roland Espinosa respinosa@sbpub.com INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER Donna Edwards dedwards@sbpub.com SALES REPRESENTATIVE -KOREA Young-Seoh Chinn jesmedia@unitel.co.kr SALES MANAGER Jeff Sutley CLASSIFIED SALES Diane Okon jsutley@sbpub.com dokon@sbpub-chicago.com CONFERENCE DIRECTOR Jane Poterala jpoterala@sbpub.com CONFERENCE COORDINATOR Michelle M. Zolkos mzolkos@sbpub.com A SIMMONS-BOARDMAN PUBLICATION EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES 345 Hudson Street New York, N.Y. 10014 TEL: (212) 620-7200 FAX: (212) 633-1165 website: www.marinelog.com e-mail: marinelog@sbpub.com CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call toll free (800) 895-4389, Monday-Friday 9 am—5 pm EST. jsnyder@sbpub.com 2 MARINE LOG NOVEMBER 2007 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com http://www.abb.com http://www.abb.com http://www.marinelog.com
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