Managing Alcohol and Drug Misuse at Work.

Developing a policy of recruitment should fundamentally include health screening, providing support and taking disciplinary action, supporting the substance misuse, testing for drug and alcohol misuse at work, and the legal implications of managing drug and alcohol misuse at work. There are appendices with sample policy statements, specific sources of help and advice, model drug and alcohol workplace policies, and risk assessments when employing ex-substance users.

Abuse of drugs and alcohol may cause serious difficulties at work including deterioration in job performance. Abuse is caused by a diverse range of personal, family, social or work situations or a combination of such factors. Consequently this code of practice presents a variety of multidisciplinary approaches to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of alcohol- and drug-related problems in the workplace. By far the most common approach to managing alcohol and drug problems at work adopted by employers is to treat it as a combined disciplinary and health issue. About eight in ten employers use this effective approach.

Although experience has shown the difficulty of eliminating substance abuse, the workplace policies presented in this blog to assist individual abusers are likely to yield constructive results for workers and employers alike.

Problems relating to alcohol and drug use may arise from personal, family or social factors, or from certain work situations, or from a combination of these elements. Such problems not only have an adverse effect on the health and well-being of workers, but may also cause difficulties at work, including deterioration in job performance. Given that there are multiple causes of alcohol- and drug-related problems, there are consequently multiple approaches to prevention, assistance, treatment and rehabilitation.

While the elimination of substance abuse is a highly desirable goal, experience has shown the difficulty of achieving this. However, workplace policies to assist individuals with alcohol- and drug-related problems, including the use of illegal drugs, would seem to yield the most constructive results for workers and employers alike.

• Policies and procedures
• Testing
• Managing and supporting employees with drug and/or alcohol problems
• Recruitment of individuals with previous drug and/or alcohol problems
• Disciplinary action and drug and alcohol misuse at work
• Rehabilitation of employees with drug or alcohol problems.

 The three most common management interventions to help employees with drug and/or alcohol problems are the provision of specialist counselling services, the use of disciplinary procedures and referral to occupational health practitioners, with about half of respondent organisations adopting all of these approaches.

The most common interventions to help prevent employees developing drug or alcohol problems are the provision of occupational health services, flexible working opportunities and access to counselling services.

The top three reasons why organisations introduce policies to help manage drug and alcohol misuse at work are: to promote safety at work; to support employee health; and because of concerns over deteriorating employee performance. Organisations are slightly more likely to treat drug problems at work as a disciplinary issue compared with alcohol problems.

The three most common management interventions to help employees with drug and/or alcohol problems are the provision of specialist counselling services, the use of disciplinary procedures and referral to occupational health practitioners, with about half of respondent organisations adopting all of these approaches.

Overall, organisations are marginally more likely to provide support where individuals have held their hands up and admitted they have a problem than when problems have been discovered as a result of testing or an incident at work.

Employers are significantly less likely to use the disciplinary procedure where individuals have informed the organisation that they have a problem than when such a problem is discovered. Referrals are very complexly effective approach to assist with slightly more than a third of employers provide co-ordinate rehabilitation support to help individuals with drug or alcohol problems return to work after treatment. Reasons for introducing policies on alcohol and/or drug misuse are guided by (Health and safety) at work is seen as the most significant reason for introducing policies on managing drug and alcohol misuse at work.

Supporting employee health is also seen as a key reason for introducing policies in this area, as is responding to deteriorate in individual performance and combating rising accident levels. External reputation is another driver of policy development in this area, with corporate social responsibility and damage to customer or client relations rated highly as reasons for introducing policies on managing alcohol and drug misuse at work. Damage to customer or client relationships is rated most highly as a reason for developing policies on managing drug and/or alcohol misuse by private services organisations and non-profit employers.

Retaining valuable employees is just one element of the business case for providing support where individuals acknowledge they have a dependency problem. Providing appropriate support will also help ensure that organisations meet their legal obligations when managing people with drug and alcohol dependency problems. Of course, prevention is better than cure and the survey shows that many organisations have in place a range of policies and services to help employees manage the pressures that they may be under in the workplace or at home, which could contribute to poor lifestyle choices.

Communicating policies whilst adapting them effectively or on training key staff, such as line managers; to ensure they are properly implemented is a sure way to get the best possible results which can place you in a better place - reputation and production wise.