[Article] Irish Rail staff fail drug test in probe

[ThomasJ]

Independent
http://www.independent.ie/national-n...e-1871902.html

By PAUL MELIA


Friday August 28 2009

TWO Irish Rail staff tested positive for drugs after serious incidents which could have resulted in death or serious injury.

And the Railway Safety Commission's annual report also says that another four staff tested positive for drugs and alcohol in breach of the company's safety policy.

The report says that 156 random drug tests were carried out last year, with two people testing positive for drugs.

Another 16 'post-incident' tests were conducted, yielding two positive drug results, and another two 'with cause' tests -- where a person was suspected of being under the influence while in the workplace -- also resulted in two positives, one for alcohol and one for drugs.

Conversely, there were six random tests on Luas with no positives, and five 'with cause' which also gave staff a clean bill of health.

Both operators have committed to testing 5pc of all 'safety-critical' staff every year. This group includes drivers, engineers and maintenance crews.

- PAUL MELIA

[karlr42]

Unacceptable, but sadly not very surprising.