In the first exhibition industry-wide effort to combat a serious and growing problemand an attempt to break a longstanding silencethe International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) is asking convention centers in the nation's major meeting destinations to adopt strict policies on the use of illicit drugs and alcohol abuse by contractor-employed show floor workers.
IAEE is requesting the buildings adopt a "right of entry" policy, whereby the facilities would reserve the right to conduct random drug tests of workers in the building and, if the workers fail the test, deny them access into the buildings.
Many centers only have drug policies that govern the behavior of their own employees and claim that they cannot dictate the deeds of contract workers. However, a right of entry policy was successfully implemented in 2004 at the Washington Convention Center, in DC.
IAEE president Steven Hacker made a clear-cut case for such measures: "Imagine if you just did drugs and you're 40 feet in the air trying to rig a sign. It's a potentially alarming, injurious situation."
Further, it's a widespread problem, he said. According to data from two industry employers, who asked IAEE to safeguard their identities, employees in on-the-job accidents between 2005 and 2007 tested positive in post-accident random drug tests 6.6 and 7.4 percent of the time; more than double the 3-percent average of all employers that perform drug testing. In addition, the unidentified IAEE-member companies tapped for the study showed an uptick in drug use every year for the three years evaluated by IAEE.
While alarming, the information likely won't shock most industry professionals, Hacker said. "In talking to people, no one was that surprised. If you've spent any time on a loading dock, you don't have to be an FBI investigator to figure out what's going on."
Centers approached by IAEE are open to making the policy change, according to Hacker. However, he declined to cite specific destinations, and when key centers were contacted by MeetingNews, few had mandates governing drug use by outside workers and most were loath to discuss their policies.
At Orlando's Orange County Convention Center, the companies that employ the contractors are charged with oversight, according to its deputy general manager, Kathie Canning. "That's really their responsibility," she said.
Likewise, the Las Vegas Convention Center does not conduct random drug tests for non-employee workers, and a spokesperson there said, "Some general contractors have their own policies."
According to spokespeople at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, building employees, who are subject to random drug tests, perform show floor tasks. The San Diego Convention Center "has limited jurisdiction over other employees working in the center" due to an agreement it has with four major unions.
Chicago's McCormick Place has not run into this stumbling block. "We have not received any resistance from labor unions to do this," said David Causton, its general manager. Three of the building's five major labor groups have agreed to random testing, and the other two are in negotiations. Causton expects one to sign on in the next two months and the other is not far behind.
Representatives for New Orleans' Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, San Francisco's Moscone Center, and the Los Angeles Convention Center did not respond to MN's inquiries by press time. After enlisting the help of buildings, IAEE plans to approach its members asking them to adopt random drug testing policies. The association's luck there may be mixed.
Both of the industry's leading general-service contractors, Freeman and GES, have conducted random drug tests of employees for many years, as do many members of the Exhibit Services Contractors Association, according to a spokesperson for the group. However, several trade show managers who oversee the efforts of these show floor workers did not respond to requests for comment, and one such professional declined to respond.
The industry's other exhibit management association is behind IAEE, said Steve Schuledenfrei, president of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association. "We do not want workers who are impaired on ladders, using powerful tools, connecting electrical circuits, running forklifts, or even carrying trays of hot food," he said. "I don't know how rampant the problem is, but just one tragedy would be too many."
Contact Rayna Katz at [email protected]Originally published February 25, 2008