are jerking from side to side. When you’re
impaired by alcohol, you can’t stop that
from happening. It’s an involuntary reflex,
an impairment of your psychomotor skills.”
SafetyScan is a simple test that looks for
indications of that sort, like dilated pupils
and eyes not moving as fast as they should
be. The knowledge from this test is gained
through a software algorithm put into
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how a person’s eyes move by asking them to
follow the path of a flashlight, finger or pen.
“What they’re looking for is distinctive
and involuntary movement of the eyes,” said
Roberts, president and CEO of SafetyScan
Technologies, a Sherwood Park, Alta.-based
company. “In the case of alcohol, they see
what is termed ‘horizontal nystagmus.’ It’s a
beady movement of the eyes where the eyes
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motion during the 30-second testing period
that watches how the eyes move.
But can it detect impairment from drugs
– most notably, marijuana? Absolutely.
There is a lot of overlap in the signs of impairment
between alcohol and pot.
“It doesn’t matter what is causing the
impairment. It has the same effect on our
brain and our responses,” said Roberts.
“Our system is sensitive to anything.”
SafetyScan is uniquely different than the
usual blood and urine testing. One problem
with urine-based drug testing is it’s always
looking back in time. Also, it doesn’t
measure impairment. It picks up traces of
the metabolite of the drug, so if you’re a regular
user but haven’t used it in a couple of
weeks, there might be enough of it in your
system that you would fail a drug test.
“That’s the crux of the problem with
marijuana being legalized,” said Roberts.
“It’s a legal substance now and the worker
is potentially doing it on his or her own
time. How does a company keep the workplace
safe but respect worker privacy at the
same time?
“We see our safety scan as the solution
to that.”
The scan will deliver one of two conclusions
to each test – a pass or a refer.
FEATURE
JCAMILOBERNAL / 123RF STOCK PHOTO
Doctors sometimes
prescribe marijuana
because it reduces pain
in muscles and joints,
helps with nausea in
chemotherapy treatments
and improves sleep.
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