CAT.GEN.MPA.170 Psychoactive substances

POLICY ON PREVENTION OF MISUSE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES

(a)The operator’s policy on prevention of misuse of psychoactive substances should ensure that flight and cabin crew, as well as other safety-sensitive personnel, are dealt with in a consistent, just and fair manner as regards the prevention and detection of misuse of psychoactive substances.

(b)The operator’s training policy on misuse of psychoactive substances should include training and/or educational material on:

(1)the effects of psychoactive substances on individuals and on flight safety;

(2)established procedures within the organisation to prevent misuse of psychoactive substances;

(3)individual responsibilities with regard to applicable legislation and policies on psychoactive substances; and

(4)assistance provided by the support programme in accordance with CAT.GEN.MPA.215.

POLICY TO PREVENT MISUSE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES The operator’s policy should ensure testing for psychoactive substances at least in the following cases:

(a)upon employment by the operator; and

(b)with due cause in the following cases:

(1)following a reasonable suspicion, and following an assessment by appropriately trained personnel; and

(2)after a serious incident or accident within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 996/2010, provided that testing is possible due to the location of the serious incident or accident.

POLICY ON PREVENTION OF MISUSE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES Guidance for the development and implementation of the policy on prevention of misuse of psychoactive substances is contained in ICAO Doc 9654 ‘Manual on Prevention of Problematic Use of Substances in the Aviation Workplace’.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMMES Guidance for the development and implementation of training and education programmes is contained in ICAO Doc 9654 ‘Manual on Prevention of Problematic Use of Substances in the Aviation Workplace’.

OPERATOR RANDOM TESTING PROGRAMME Nothing should prevent an operator from implementing a random testing programme in accordance with national requirements on testing of individuals, in order to mitigate the risk that misuse of psychoactive substances remains undetected and endangers the safety of the aircraft or its occupants.

MEANING OF ‘PERSONNEL UNDER THE DIRECT CONTROL OF THE OPERATOR’

(a)Personnel under the direct control of the operator means personnel that is directly employed by the operator. This excludes personnel of contractors or subcontractors of the operator unless they act as flight or cabin crew.

(b)The operator may require the contracted service provider to carry out testing of personnel as part of the contract between the operator and the contracted service provider.

POLICY TO PREVENT MISUSE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES After referral and assessment by the medical assessor of the licencing authority, the operator may consider unannounced testing as part of a periodic medical follow-up after rehabilitation and return to work.

OBJECTIVE, TRANSPARENT AND NON-DISCRIMINATORY TESTING PROCEDURE The operator’s objective, transparent and non-discriminatory testing procedure should specify:

(a)means to ensure confidentiality and protection of data;

(b)the responsibilities of the person carrying out a test, which should be in accordance with national legislation;

(c)the timing and suitable locations for testing;

(d)that the body responsible for testing should be an independent, accredited body using standard guidelines on psychoactive substance testing in line with national legislation;

(e)the testing process, and in particular:

(1)the psychoactive substances to be tested for;

(2)the applicable national legislation and use of recognised quality standards applied to the testing methodology;

(3)initial screening and confirmation methods used; and

(4)handling of test results, which should be conducted by impartial and trained personnel, in order to ensure adherence to the procedure, to determine the true positives and to prevent false positives;

(f)applicable limits applying to psychoactive substance tests;

(g)the process to be followed in case of a confirmed positive test result; and

(h)the internal appeal process.