Pilots to be screened for drugs and alcohol

Pilots flying domestic and international routes will be subjected to random alcohol and drug tests for the first time from early next year.

A blood-alcohol content less than 0.02 per cent will be set for pilots and tests for cocaine, cannabis, opioids and amphetamines will be conducted under the long-anticipated changes to aviation safety standards.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has been negotiating the new standards with aviation industry representatives for four years, but the changes will now be introduced just months before the Government-sponsored random drug testing of elite sportsmen and women.

It is also likely to increase pressure for emergency and essential service industries and personnel to tackle alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace.

Drug and alcohol testing for the Australian aviation industry was recommended by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau after a fatal accident on Hamilton Island in September 2002.

While the bureau was not able to conclusively establish the reasons for the crash, the then federal transport minister, John Anderson, warned it was time to consider the "impacts of alcohol and drug use on aviation safety".

The current regulations prohibit flight crew from being under the influence of drugs and alcohol, but the system is self-regulatory. The US already conducts random testing and in Britain there is a legal blood alcohol limit of less than 0.02 per cent.

The pilots' federation wants to see the standards enforced across the aviation industry to include engineers, maintenance workers, catering staff and parts manufacturers and suppliers.

Their argument highlights other debates over workplace drug testing, including a five-year stand-off between the Victoria Police and the Police Association.

Victoria's police force has no drug or alcohol testing regime, although random testing is conducted in other states when there is a reasonable suspicion an officer is under the influence or impaired while on duty.

The Age