DGCA issues rules for alcohol testing of airside workers

Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday issued rules for breathanalyser test which will be conducted at all airports by year end for airside workers, including those handling aircraft maintenance, air traffic control (ATC) and ground handling services.

According to the rules issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), if any personnel is tested positive for alcohol for the first time, or refuses to undergo the test, or attempts to evade it by leaving the airport premises, then he or she must be kept "off duty and their license/approval shall be suspended for a period of three months".

The rules stated that "in case of second violation of the provisions, the license/approval issued by DGCA of the concerned personnel shall be suspended for a period of one year".

The new rules cover more than 25,000 aviation personnel who are handling sensitive aviation services.

According to DGCA, the aviation personnel under the ambit of these rules include aircraft maintenance engineers, other technically trained person authorised to carry out maintenance of aircraft, vehicle drivers who drive fuelling and catering vehicles, equipment operators, aerobridge operators, marshallers, personnel manning apron control, ground handling services personnel as well as ATC personnel.

The aviation regulator said that as per the rules, at least 10 per cent of the personnel "employed in their respective organizations(category wise)" must be randomly subjected to breathanalyzer examination on a daily basis.

The DGCA said in a press statement that organisations operating at the major airports -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Lucknow and Guwahati - would be implementing these rules by October 30.

It stated that on 33 other airports, including the ones in Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Trivandrum, Indore, Patna, Amritsar, Bhopal, Surat, Nagpur and Coimbatore, the rules would have to be implemented by November 30.

On all other remaining airports, the rules have to be implemented by December 31.

"The aerodrome management (airport operator) shall be responsible for the conduct of the BA (breathanalyser) test on the personnel of the ground handling agency and aerodrome operational personnel, while the airline operators, air navigation service provider, maintenance organisations for their employees," the DGCA said in its statement.

The regulator said that organisations have to use a scientifically valid method such as a random-number table or a computer-based random-number generator to select the applicable employees for testing.