Emirates has joined Virgin Airlines as the second major carrier to purchase a drink and drug testing system for screening its crew.
British drug-testing company Cozart said yesterday that Emirates had acquired the system. The company’s chief executive Chris Hand confirmed that “they will be using urine tests. It is for all their staff – pilots and cabin crew.”
The airline will test random urine samples taken from staff flying on long-haul routes from Dubai to the UK, Europe, India, Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and the United States of America.
The Cozart system is capable of detecting alcohol in a urine sample for about 12 hours after drinking. Cannabis use registers for several days in a sample.
Cabin crew are an essential element in a flight’s safety in the air. “It is a safety-critical job. The workplace will want to know if they have a drug user that can compromise safety,” explained Hand.
The deal with Emirates is said by Cozart to be worth over $1 million over the next three years.
A spokesperson for Emirates said that such screening had been in place for some time, but that the deal with Cozart marked an expansion of its drive for safety.
“We are using a company called Nemesis who use Cozart to provide them with their equipment. This arrangement has been in place for some time in Dubai – and we have now extended that contract beyond the United Arab Emirates,” a spokesperson told ArabianBusiness.com.
“The purpose is to enable us to carry out random drug testing on staff in safety related fields. This is part of an ongoing process to ensure the highest standards of safety.”
Follow us on
