By Victoria Roberts Belco will introduce random drugs tests as part of company policy on January 1. Previously, only those suspected of drug or alcohol abuse could be tested.

In the company referendum that decided the issue, 60.8 percent of the 74 percent of the work force who voted were in favour.

Belco's comprehensive drug and alcohol abuse policy has been hailed throughout Bermuda as an example, said company president and chief executive officer Mr.

Garry Madeiros.

He said he remembers going to forums and hearing mention of "the Belco model'' by such people as Mr. Mansfield (Jim) Brock, chairman of the National Drugs Commission, and Human Affairs and Information Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill.

However, Mr. Madeiros said he was concerned about people looking on their example as an absolute model. "It was developed for Belco,'' he said. "We don't mind it being a guide, but we don't want people to think they need to do it our way. Every organisation is different.

"It is a document for discussion, on what can be done.'' Prevention and rehabilitation were the key points of the policy, Mr. Madeiros explained. Belco employees are encouraged to seek help, and detoxification and rehabilitation are considered medical grounds for taking sick leave.

"We are definitely the first company to put in place insurance coverage for rehabilitation expenses,'' he said.

The programme is all the more important, said Mr. Madeiros, because "this whole policy was put together by a joint union and management team over four years''.

The initiative came from Belco's trade union itself, he said, and the entire company participated, with each employee undergoing training and contributing their own opinions.

Sensitivity and confidentiality were the most important part of the policy, he said. "At the end of the day, it's people's reputations and feelings.'' Belco decided they needed such a policy because American statistics show that an average 15 percent of the work force is abusing alcohol or a drug, Mr.

Madeiros told The Royal Gazette .

Ten to 15 percent of employees in Bermuda are suffering personal problems serious enough to affect their performance, and of that percentage, 11 to 15 percent of the problems fall into the area of substance abuse, said Ms Deborah Carr of the Employee Assistance Programme, reading from statistics available on the Bermudian workplace.

She cautioned that these statistics were not complete, because they were based on referrals to drug treatment programmes. And the phenomenon of neutral recognise problems, is only seven years old.

"There was a policy of concealment in the past,'' she said.

At Belco, before the code of practice, there was scope for inconsistencies and carelessness, Mr. Madeiros admitted. There was no checklist to make sure the right people were contacted, and the right action taken. People then were not trained to spot warning signs.

Now, the policy will be subject to "ongoing evaluation''.

Mr. Madeiros was yesterday making a donation to the Council Partners, the fundraising arm of a coalition of five organisations against drug and alcohol abuse. It was the first instalment of $75,000 which Belco is contributing to the Council Partners over five years.

"The Council Partners applaud Belco's commitment to a drug-free workplace,'' said recipient, Council Partners chairman Mrs. Katherine Watson.

Members of the Council Partners coalition are : the Lions' Quest, PRIDE, Focus, Fair Havens and the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.