New drug laws: Driving the message home

For employers whose employees are caught with certain controlled drugs in their system this could pose problems – not only in terms of staff being absent from work or unable to fulfil their duties, but the one-year ban for a conviction may require recruitment and training of replacement employees.

However, there is also a bigger picture that employers need to be aware of. According to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), a third of employers admit drug and alcohol misuse is a problem at work and understandably drug and alcohol policy is a growing area for businesses. Here in the UK: 17 million annual days are lost to alcohol related absence, 25% of all workplace accidents result from alcohol, and 1 in 3 workers under 30 used drugs in the last year 

Introducing a drug and alcohol policy into the workplace can help employers identify potential problems before they escalate – particularly in plants where employees can be working in hazardous environments or safety critical areas and who are handling and monitoring dangerous equipment. 

Health and Safety legislation means employers have a duty of care to their employees and should be concerned about their general health and well-being as a matter of course. As well as covering yourself from a legal point of view, a drug and alcohol policy makes sense from a commercial perspective. Studies from the US show that employees using drugs are less productive, take more time off work and are almost four times as likely to have an accident in the workplace.

 

While alcohol can be smelt on the breath, drugs are much harder to spot. Training for managers and supervisors can help and there is a guide available for employers on how to spot the signs and deal with drug misuse at work produced by the HSE.

 

Introducing a drug misuse policy can help avoid any misunderstandings regarding the company’s position on staff drug use and, for companies where driving or safety critical jobs form a regular part of the work, drug and alcohol workplace testing schemes can be invaluable.

 

Drug testing policy

Before introducing a drug and alcohol testing policy, we would recommend employers consult their workforce or union to get staff buy-in at all levels. Whether all personnel are being tested or just safety critical staff, employees need to understand and support their employers’ rationale – equally, they should have the medium-to-long term benefits and effects of a policy fully explained to them.

 

Human Resources and policy makers need to be careful to communicate the type of testing they plan to carry out, what they are testing for and the consequences of a positive test to ensure there are no nasty surprises for staff.

 

Because employees with a drug problem have the same rights to confidentiality and support as those with any other physical or psychological condition, employers could be taken to an industrial tribunal if they don’t try to help the employee. Numerous organisations offer training on how to provide this support; alternatively the affected person’s GP should be able to direct them to help. For safety critical work the employee should be moved to another area until the issue is resolved. 

For jobs which require an element of work-related driving, there is certainly a case for considering the introduction of a drug screening programme. The same can also be said for employees working in industrial plants where there can be a number of potentially hazardous situations. 

Before introducing a programme employers should be clear when and how they want to carry out these tests. There are a number of options:

•  Testing prior to employment

•  Random tests

• ‘Probable cause’

•  Post incident

•  As a condition of access for employees or contractors

 

Ways of testing include: Oral fluid, urine and hair. Pros and cons exist for all of these areas and employers need to ensure they weigh everything up before going ahead.