David Cant CMIOSH, managing director of Veritas Consulting, explains the things to look out for in drug addicted employees, and outlines the ways in which you can tackle the problem
Drug addiction affects everyone, whether wealthy, educated, uneducated, homeless, employed and unemployed. In fact, most drug addicts are fully functioning members of the public. Approximately 75% of drug and substance abusers are full time employed adults, according to a survey by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Many employers are faced with the drug addiction problem among their workers.
Most aspects of any workplace, especially the construction industry, call for accuracy, quick reflexes, and alertness. This is enough to answer the question: why look into drug and substance addiction at your workplace? Any deficiency of the above qualities could interfere with both accuracy and work efficiency, which could then lead to serious workplace accidents. This not only translates into a serious drain on the employer’s wallet as far as workplace accident claims goes, but also reduces productivity.
Identification of employees notorious for drug and substance abuse is the first step to dealing with such addictions in your workplace. So how exactly do you point out these employees? Here are some of the things to look out for.
Signs of Employee Drug Addiction
Identifying employees’ with drug and substance addiction is not easy. Many addicts at the workplace are very cautious about their appearance and to hide their drug abuse problems try as much as possible. Even so, drug dependency and abuse in any workplace is manifested in attendance as well as performance issues. Below are some of the red lights that you should watch out for:
Easy Steps to Dealing with an Employee’s Addiction
As mentioned earlier, an employee drug addiction is never easy to handle. It is especially difficult for an employer to know exactly when to back off and when to step in. As a rule of thumb, if the employee’s relationships at work as well as his performance has been affected, then it is probably high time to step in and help. Here are some few ways on how you can manage the drug addiction issue in the workplace.
This should be the first step to addressing the menace of drug addiction among employees in a workplace setting. A survey in the U.S. by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) revealed that approximately one third of illegal drug users would not work for an employer that carries out random drug tests. That is not so different from what we see in the UK. It is true that employers who have successfully established a drug free workplace programme have reported improved productivity as well as increased employee morale with decreased theft and turnover, accidents, absenteeism, and downtime. A drug free workplace situation is achieved through the inclusion of written policies (HSE on drugs and alcohol), supervisory training, alcohol and drug testing, and employee awareness and education.
Every employee should be held accountable for their behaviour as well as performance at work. No worker should be allowed to give excuses for their bad behaviour, absenteeism, tardiness, or lack of performance. This means no more delegating an employee’s work to other employees.
Finally, you should offer employee assistance to seek drug rehabilitation. With adequate support and treatment, the employee should be able to get back to work more productive than before. Some of the treatment options for employee drug addiction include: a 12-step support group, residential and outpatient treatment and detoxification.
Though we do not engage in drug testing campaigns, we thought it prudent to emphasise the importance of having a drug free workplace. If you have any questions or comments, please connect with us and we will be glad to help.
