Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry News
The State of Opioid Use in Canada
Overdose Increase There has been increasing media coverage on the dangers of fentanyl use Canada wide with various incidents over the past fews months of accidental fentanyl overdoses. In many of the overdose instances fentanyl was found cut into various recreational...
Being a Collector, What’s it All About?
Types of Collectors To do collections in Canada one should be a Certified Specimen Collector. This means that the collector will be aware and well versed in all aspects of collecting, processing, and interpreting results from urine, oral fluid and hair specimens....
Executive Director Speaks at Wellpoint Conference
Work Better Safer 2016 DATAC’s Executive Director, Tim Salter, spoke recently at Wellpoint’s educational conference, Work Better Safer 2016, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Wellpoint conference hosted many esteemed speakers in the industry including Donna Bowyer from...
What is a Collection Service Provider or Third Party Administrator?
In Canada there is currently no government department which oversees the Drug and Alcohol Testing industry, but in the United States this falls under the purview of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s, Office of Drug and Alcohol Policy & Compliance. This means...
Canada’s Cockpit Laws Questioned
Canada’s pilots adherence to the “8 hours from bottle to throttle” rule has come under some question recently as two Canadian pilots were pulled from duty in Scotland on suspicions of being intoxicated. This situation has brought some attention to the protocols...
Canada, isn’t it supposed to be safety first?
Points to Ponder about Random Drug Testing The use of random drug and alcohol testing within the workplace is a very hot topic right now and has caused a fair bit of debate amongst unions, employees and employers. The debate in regards to the efficacy and...
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) To Implement Random Drug Testing
In a surprising memo sent out early this week, the Toronto Transit Commission’s CEO Andy Byford informed employees that random drug and alcohol testing will begin once more. Although the TTC has been embroiled in a five year-long arbitration with Amalgamated Transit...
Alberta Arbitrators Quash Another Random Alcohol and Drug Testing Policy
Alberta arbitration has called a halt to yet another Canadian employer of unionized workers having the right to include randomized drug testing as part of its alcohol and drug testing policy. The groundwork for this decision began with Irving Pulp & Paper Limited...
DOT Random Pool Testing Rate Slashed in Half
Effective January 1, 2016 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced that the random pool size of drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) is to be reduced by half. Currently, 50% off all all...