we had unexpected guests last night at the rig. when i went back to our office after i had dinner, beside my table were a box of red capped, wide mouthed plastic bottles and a small blue ice box – i cannot help myself but to peek inside the container and i saw test kits inside. my rig manager asked me what was it for and i told him that the drug testers are on location.

the presence of illegal drugs on an employee while performing company business or while on company premises is a violation of company policy. the use, sale, purchase, transfer or possession of an illegal drug by any employee while on company premises or while on company business is a violation of company policy.

it is the first time that we had a random screening here at the rig and i have been here for almost three years. i think our main office just had to do it for there were reports of illegal drug use on some rigs. considering this is saudi arabia but still, it does exist. i had to wake up some of the crew who were off tour for them to visit the rig clinic to have their urine samples for the drug tests.

i actually volunteered to be the first to have my urine sample checked.

the testers were using a multi drug test panel dip cards on which checks for presence of metabolites of cocaine, amphetamines, methadone, marijuana, and opiates. some of the crew were a bit nervous that it took time for them to pee to provide the urine sample, well i think there will be one obvious reason (i am not saying all) to be jittery on a random drug test – and that is if you are a user.