The issue of random drugs testing in the workplace and in the schools has entered the public eye recently, along with debate over its accuracy and cost as well as concerns over incursions into people's civil rights. But Esso Bermuda, has quietly and successfully carried out alcohol and drugs testing for five years.

The worker, a little nervous because he had a few cocktails at happy hour last night, has been summoned to the boss's office.

Minutes earlier a computer randomly spat out his name to be tested for the presence of alcohol and drugs in his system. He must now stick a swab under his tongue for a minute and insert it in a test kit to determine whether he has been drinking on the job -- or excessively the night before.

He must also give a urine sample to be laboratory tested for illegal drug use.

Luckily for the worker, no tell-tale indigo line appears in the window of the alcohol saliva test. And he knows he has not been doing any drugs.

For 30-odd employees of Esso-Bermuda, and a growing number of other companies in the 1990s, these tests are a twice-annual occurrence.

And a positive result means immediate job loss.

Positive results are sent to a private doctor for a second opinion in case of what is known as a "false positive'', which happened once before at Esso.

The company, part of the giant Exxon Corporation, offers workers the chance to seek treatment. On completion it will rehire them but they must take a lesser position that poses no danger to anyone or thing.

Fortunately, Esso has only ever seen one worker test positive, general manager Mr. Keith Hollis said.

He believes his company's success with the programme -- supported by all employees -- is proof that drug testing in Bermuda is "workable and do-able''.

"I think down the road when the general population realises how big a problem we have here, you'll see a lot more moves towards drug and alcohol testing,'' said Mr. Hollis, who is vice president of the Employee Assistance Programme.

As far as he knew, he said, Belco was the only other local company with a random drug testing policy.

Esso randomly tests between one and four workers a week, amounting to about 60 a year.

And the annual cost, $5-a-kit, $15-per-test at a California lab, $27 to mail it, and $25 for a retest -- roughly $3,000 -- is a small price to pay for a drug-free workplace, he says.

Random drug and alcohol testing was introduced at Exxon companies abroad and Esso-Bermuda in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez oil-spill disaster.

Those subject to testing include management and employees in high-risk job categories such as fuel truck drivers, airplane refuellers and tanker servicers, as well as unsupervised contract workers such as security guards and electricians.

The company also has a policy of pre-employment testing. And a positive result would automatically put a job applicant out of the running, as it has in the past.

Any alcohol consumed prior to midnight would not normally show up as a positive. But if an employee has been "boozing'' the night before, at a special family celebration, for example, he can call in and confess, in which case he will be given a sick day.

As Mr. Hollis puts it: "A worker who has stayed out until 4 a.m. drinking is not wanted here anyway. He's a hazard to the rest of us.'' There's no denying the policy is "tough'', Mr. Hollis concedes.

He felt the brunt of it first hand during a recent board room meeting in the United States of Exxon international executives.

"Everyone on the right hand of the conference table, that included me, was told to accompany another executive to the second floor for random drug and alcohol testing,'' Mr. Hollis recalled.

Mr. Hollis believes the results of Esso's six-year-old policy show it has been highly successful even though there was never any reason to believe it was needed in the first place.

"I would have been surprised to have anyone come up positive during the initial round of testing,'' Mr. Hollis said. "Our employees were 100-percent clean. I am extremely proud of them because we have bought into something new and quite different.'' As Government ponders drug testing of athletes and in the schools in the wake of the soccer drugs scandal, Esso-Bermuda, he says, is proof drug testing can work. Belco sought the advice of Esso in implementing its drug testing policy last month, he noted.

And there was no doubt in his mind that similar drug testing policies, including for athletes, would benefit Bermuda.

"I think it will be pretty difficult to get the money for going abroad in the future if they (athletes) are not tested,'' he said.

Mr. Hollis said Esso had offered to bring in Exxon's drugs testing expert to make a formal presentation to Government on the subject.

"At Esso, the whole idea of D&A testing is to make sure no one on the job is under the influence so the community and environment are protected.

"An airplane re-fueller high on drugs could cause an airplane to go down,'' he said.

Mr. Hollis admits that in the beginning it was a "formidable challenge'' to introduce something as controversial as drug and alcohol testing.

However, Esso, having set out to introduce the measure, informed employees of its intentions then held a series of staff meetings so workers could air any concerns, which included privacy, how the urine samples would be acquired and civil rights in general.

"The major premise from the beginning was do we or don't we want a drug and alcohol-free workplace. And the answer was a resounding yes,'' he said.

The next step was training two staff members to summon the randomly selected workers to head office, oversee the saliva alcohol and urine drug tests, date the urine samples and express-mail them to a California lab with the required information attached.

The California lab contracted by Exxon will send back any urine sample that is more than 72-hours-old, Mr. Hollis noted.

The process of random selection involves a central computer system at Exxon headquarters in Florida.

It selects workers' names randomly and notifies their bosses on a weekly basis. Sometimes, only one Bermuda employee's name is spat out, and sometimes up to four workers are picked.

It is secretary Mrs. Bernette Cann's and pay roll cashier Mrs. Shirley Smith's job to summon the selected workers to head office as soon as possible and see that they take the test.

The saliva test is relatively simple, much like a pregnancy test. A leeway up to a certain level is given in the test window in case the worker has unknowingly consumed a minute amount of alcohol in a product such as cough medicine.

The urine drug test is more complex. Workers are required to declare any prescription drugs they are using. To thwart any plans to substitute a clean urine sample for the real thing while in the toilet, Esso workers have to use a sterile plastic thermometer-controlled bottle for the sample. That way, management will know whether the urine sample was taken at body temperature as it should be.

Also, one of the secretaries in charge of the testing watches as the worker drops two blue dye pills from the test kit into the toilet bowl to prevent any ideas of substituting the water for a urine sample. She then leaves him alone until he's finished.

Mr. Hollis adds the company's policy statment on drug and alcohol use, though severe, recognises that dependency is treatable and encourages employees with a problem to seek advice before it results in job performance problems.

No employee with a drug problem will be terminated due to a request for help in overcoming it, the policy stresses.

Mr. Keith Hollis.