Concerns raised over lack of random drug and alcohol testing for ferry staff

Concern has been raised over Shetland Islands Council (SIC) not undertaking random drug and alcohol testing of staff in “safety critical” roles, such as ferries, despite it being part of policy.

Chairman of the SIC’s audit committee Allison Duncan said he felt introducing testing should be given “top priority”.

It was also his belief that random testing should take place throughout the council – but he said that was a matter for “another day”.

A report to a meeting of the audit committee on Wednesday said ferry management is not currently complying with the SIC’s substance misuse policy because it was put on hold during the Covid pandemic and is currently under review at a corporate level.

The policy states that staff in safety-critical roles, which includes all crew on board council ferries, will be subject to drug and alcohol testing as part of pre-employment screening and at random points through the course of their work.

The report, on a review of compliance with ferry services’ safety management system, said discussions with human resources (HR) are ongoing in relation to pre-employment testing.

A proposal for random testing arrangements using an external provider has been submitted to HR for consideration and approval.

A timescale for implementation was given as August 31, 2025, but Duncan said he felt it should be put in place with immediate effect.

However, chief internal auditor Jillian Campbell said the review involves multiple parties, including unions, and is “not something that can happen overnight”.

But she said the SIC management was confident of having things in place by the end of August.

Campbell added that the policy not being enforced was not an “overlook” and added that the equipment effectively had gone out of date during the Covid pandemic.

In debate, Duncan said he was “really concerned” that no random testing is currently taking place on the ferries.

The report said failure to implement the policy “increases the risk that crew and passenger safety is compromised”.

“Thankfully, nothing happened because if there had been any drink or drugs failures, it could have resulted in serious consequences,” Duncan said.

He said he brought this issue up “some years back, but it didn’t meet with approval at that time”.

“For me […] random testing should not only be within the ferry service but throughout the whole council, but that’s for another day, and I will be following that up,” Duncan added.

The review of compliance with ferry services’ safety management system did not result in any ‘high’ priority recommendations for improvement.

Three ‘medium’ ones were raised, and six ‘low’.

Among the findings were that some training records were incomplete, and that much of the paperwork that forms evidence of compliance with the MCA’s requirements is held on the vessel in hard copy only.

Chair of the SIC’s environment and transport committee, Moraig Lyall, said she was reassured to see that no major failures were reported by internal auditors on a “safety-sensitive” area like ferries.

But she said “small details really matter” in the ferry service and added that officials need to keep on top of things.