With Christmas nearly upon us and New Year festivities just around the corner, it’s that time of the year again when employers cross their fingers and hope an incident isn’t just around the corner. But it’s not just drunken and lewd behaviour at parties you need to worry about; it’s also people turning up to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Here are some tips to protect yourself and your business from the dangers of people working while under the influence:
- Most importantly, have a drug and alcohol management plan in place.
- Implement drug and alcohol testing and make at least some of the testing random.
- Educate your employees.
- This education will include the risks of turning up to work under the influence, information about alcohol and drugs so employees can make informed choices, and a summary of your drug and alcohol management plan, including testing, so they understand their responsibilities and the risks if they do turn up to work under the influence.
Above all, don’t just stick your head in the sand and hope that drugs and alcohol won’t affect your workplace. With around one in five people admitting to turning up to work under the influence of alcohol, ignoring the potential risks is a strategy that will bite you in the end.
