Alcohol Testing Proposed for Transport Jobs

The government on Thursday proposed random alcohol testing for 7 million transportation workers, including truck drivers, train engineers, pilots and air traffic controllers.

It estimated that testing would save 1,200 lives in a decade by deterring drinking.

All drivers of commercial vehicles, airline flight crews and mechanics and other transportation workers whose jobs can affect safety would stand a 1-in-5 to 1-in-2 chance of being tested at least once a year.

Anyone with a blood alcohol level of 0.02--one-and-a-half glasses of beer or wine for a 160-pound man--or greater would be removed from safety-sensitive duties for at least eight hours or until a retest showed an alcohol concentration less than 0.02.

Transportation Secretary Andrew H. Card Jr. said the proposed alcohol testing, along with an expansion of drug testing to cover some 3 million intrastate truck, school bus and motor coach drivers, “will make our roads, railroads and airways safer for all who travel.”

The breath equipment used in the testing allows the testers to calculate alcohol concentrations in the blood. The testing would cover:

--Some 6 million holders of commercial driving licenses.

--80,000 railroad engineers, brakemen, dispatchers, signal maintainers and conductors.

--200,000 bus and other mass transit operators, controllers and maintenance workers.

--340,000 pilots, other flight crew members, instructors, airline attendants, aircraft dispatchers and mechanics, airport security workers and air traffic controllers.

--And 120,000 natural gas pipeline workers.

The proposed rules will be published Tuesday in the Federal Register, opening a 120-day period for public comment. Final rules will not emerge until after the Clinton Administration is in office.