If you own or manage a workplace in Sydney, you may have wondered whether you should be conducting random alcohol testing of your employees. Perhaps you’ve considered it in the past, but for one reason or another haven’t implemented alcohol testing yet.
Should you implement alcohol testing in your Sydney workplace?
What are the chances of one or more of your employees turning up to work under the influence of alcohol?
While broad-based statistics on positive results for workplace alcohol testing aren’t readily available, there is plenty of evidence to support the implementation of alcohol testing in your Sydney workplace:
- On NSW roads, in 2015, slightly less than 1% of drivers who were tested for alcohol recorded a positive result. That’s not an overly large figure, but if you transfer the statistic to the workplace that’s 1 or 2 employees for every 200-strong workforce.
- Drink driving is a factor in approximately one in five road accidents in Sydney and NSW that result in a fatality. While this figure is tragic and unacceptable, when random breath testing started on NSW’s road in 1982, a massive 40% of fatalities involved alcohol.
- In a recent survey, around 20% of Australians admitted they’ve called in sick after drinking too much. That’s OK, you might think, I’d rather my employees call in sick than come into work under the influence, but…
- The same number of people, around 20%, admitted they’ve gone to work drunk or under the influence of alcohol. Oops!
- Ten per cent of employees say they’ve been negatively affected by the behaviour or actions of a co-worker who’s been under the influence of alcohol.
- Whether you live in Sydney, regional NSW or any other part of Australia, alcohol use is a regular part of many people’s lives. Many of these people drink to excess. In fact, close to 20% of Australians over the age of 14 regularly consume alcohol at higher than the recommended levels.
Should you implement alcohol testing in your Sydney workplace? If you’re serious about health and safety and genuinely concerned about the welfare of your employees, the answer is a resolute yes.
