Posted by Drug Test Australia
By Chris Zappone October 30, 2012 - 10:26AM - Sydney Morning Herald
Less than three months after a Qantas pilot was stood down from a flight on suspicion of alcohol use, data from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority shows more than 100 airline employees have tested positive for drugs and alcohol over a 17-month period.
Random drug and alcohol tests of airline staff - including pilots, ground crews, air traffic controllers and other ‘‘safety sensitive’’ workers - showed 80 positives for drug use out of 19,402 tests, as well as another 24 positives for alcohol use out of 27,459 tests, data from the CASA has shown.
The drug and alcohol tests, conducted from September 2010 to February 2012, were used for pre-employment testing, upon suspicion of a staff member or for employees returning from rehabilitation for substance abuse. From 2008 and March 2012, random drug and alcohol sampling by the airlines themselves revealed 27 positives out of 51,645 tests for both substances.
The drug and alcohol use figures come after the pilot of a Qantas plane bound for Brisbane from Sydney was stood down minutes before take-off in August on suspicion of alcohol use. The government has implemented a drug and alcohol management regulatory regime since 2008, with random testing occurring since then.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson noted that 0.41 per cent of totals had tested positive for drug use and only 0.087 per cent had test positive for alcohol. The airlines’ testing revealed a positive rate of 0.052 per cent.
‘‘The rate of positives for both the testing by aviation organisations and the random testing, is very, very low,’’ he said. ‘‘[But] naturally we'd like to see no positives at all.
‘‘To strive to achieve that, there are comprehensive education and training programs for all aviation employees to warn them about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, while at work.’’
In the test, the blood alcohol concentration limit was a 0.02 per cent. Drug limits were ‘‘in accordance with the Australian standard for oral fluid testing,’’ CASA said.
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