companies to start random drug testing in the workplace.

Employee Assistance Programme executive officer Ms Deborah Carr said yesterday that PTB managers and drivers were already subject to pre-employment and cause testing for alcohol and drugs, but they were not random tested.

The PTB will join Esso, Belco, Rosedon guesthouse and Watlington Waterworks in random testing workers for alcohol and drugs.

The Bermuda Biological Station and Air Care also had drug testing policies in place, though for cause only, she said. Speaking to Hamilton Lions, Ms Carr urged those local companies without drug-free workplace policies to "realise that the work site is an appropriate setting for dealing with substance abuse''.

EAP statistics indicated 15 percent of the local population was involved in alcohol and drugs. And the local economy suffered "millions of dollars in losses attributable to drug abuse each year''.

Nearly every Fortune 500 company has implemented some form of drug testing and education policy, according to US statistics.

"The highest drug-using segment of the Bermudian population is the young working adult,'' she said. "Employers cannot afford to ignore a problem that affects such a large portion of the workforce.

"Management has a responsibility to provide a healthy and safe workplace for all employees, to ensure the best product or service achievable, and to protect shareholders from losses due to alcohol and drug abuse.'' She added the EAP believed most workers were not drug abusers and did not want to work side-by-side with drug abusers.

"Top managers must commit themselves to the programme and provide the needed personnel and financial resources to develop and implement an appropriate plan'' to make workplaces drug-free, she said.

"Drug testing can be an effective component of a comprehensive drug abuse prevention programme -- one whose success in deterrence and detection of drugs is vital.'' But she said drug testing, which costs between $25 and $110 per person, was not the "magic bullet''. It was not a means of eradicating the problem and creating a completely drug-free workplace, she said.

Furthermore, proper testing facilities and rehabilitation opportunities -- but not a revolving door policy -- were a vital part of drug testing policies.

"What the EAP does not want to see is a population of unemployable individuals produced. We do not want to develop this as a witch hunt to identify them (substance abusers) and fire them,'' she said. "We need to work with the employers to get them thinking right.

"I hope that businesses all over the Island will pick up the pace and continue the fight against drug abuse in Bermuda. I have no doubt that theses efforts will save countless careers, reputations and help to preserve happiness in many Bermudian families.

"EAP can help company leaders understand the complexity of this issue and will enable them to make informed decisions.'' The EAP currently covers some 12,000 employees at 125 businesses, meaning that with 2.5 children per family, half the population comes under its umbrella.