Drugs and alcohol are a leading contributor to workplace accidents with the incidence of use at 12% in the construction industry according to AFL-CIO. The International Risk Management Institute indicates those under the influence to be up to 4 times more likely to have an accident than a non-impaired worker.
It is also estimated that up to 17 million working days are lost each year due to alcohol-related sickness, leaving employers with a cost of £1.7bn according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Not everywhere obliges employers to have a drug and alcohol program at work but the smartest companies are proactive in tackling the risk that these substances present.
With this in mind, the HSE has laid out four steps which we will visit a bit later. But first, let’s take a look at two extremely important factors concerning alcohol abuse and your construction workers: the appropriate testing regime to undertake, and the real cost of an accident.
Alcohol Testing Regimes
The Journal of Construction Engineering and Management conducted a study in 2001 that showed when a company introduced drug and alcohol testing they experience less than half the workplace injuries. OSHA, for its part, recommends companies to work on policy, training, employee assistance and testing as part of a comprehensive way to tackle the problem.
The testing regime is often a point of controversy in companies and employees can find it to be intrusive and erode trust in their employers. That is why it is so important to introduce testing in conjunction with training and support programs.
As you know, screening for alcohol abuse is quite big within the construction industry.
Include in Employee Contract
According to the HSE’s guide, the first thing you should do is ensure that screening is worked into your employee’s contract from the outset. According to the guide, you should keep in mind that your existing staff are under no “legal obligation” to “agree to changes in their terms and conditions of service.” There could be a risk if you try to “force a test” on an existing employee, your worker could resign or “claim ‘constructive dismissal’”.
Obtain Written Consent
The next step for you, is to obtain the written consent of your employee. Consent may be required separately for alcohol and drug use. You should also consider the medical confidentiality of your employee and you should “only tell managers whether an employee is considered fit or unfit for work.”
Introduce Chain of Custody Procedures
Finally, you should ensure that samples are “provided by the person being screened” to ensure an accurate result, according to the guide. You should then consult any laboratory “accredited by the National Accreditation Service” to ensure all the data is as accurate as possible. A mistake could be devastating to your employee, and possibly even leave your company open to a legal suit if incorrect.
In summary, the testing regime in your company may need to be passed to an outside company to handle all these details.
The Real Cost of an Accident
According toPeter M. Bushnell, the CEO of BulRushess, a health and safety consultancy firm, an on site accident could slash your company’s productivity and have a lasting impact on your bottom line. Not to mention the months, or years, of possible legal wrangling and paperwork as a result of a serious injury. All of this could take time, resulting in more lost hours and lack of work on any given construction project, which means your firm will also be hit hard. In the US, the National Safety Council estimated that the total cost of both fatal accidents and non-fatal injuries stood at $753bn. In the UK, injuries and ill-health cost the construction sector £1.1bn, according to the HSE.
The Four Steps
Additionally, the HSE have compiled four key steps in how to deal with alcohol within your workplace, let’s take a look.
Step 1: Find Out if There is a Problem
Problem with alcohol in the workplace can stem from alcohol consumption during working hours but it is more likely to come from drinking that has taken place outside of work. Workers may arrive having been out the night before and are still under the influence so be aware of this.
At this point, it would be a good idea to find out what your employees “know about the effects of alcohol on health and safety”, how it can affect them and if they understand the company policy on the issue.
Using surveys, face to face interactions and promotional materials will help to raise the issue ‘on the floor’ and should help you to see problems in advance of an incident.
Step 2: Decide What To Do
Set out clearly what your company policy is on drinking at work, when entertaining as part of work, before work etc. Without this grounding you cannot build an alcohol awareness program.
Secondly, be clear on how you want to respond to the issue in all the various ways it may arise. For example, be clear how you will discipline workers who may be at work under the influence, how to deal with a workplace incident if alcohol is suspected to be a cause, and so on.
Step 3: Take Action
Alcohol testing can be conducted by an outside contractor who will manage the process.
Disciplinary action should be your last resort, according to the guide. You should also consider that the “cost of recruiting and training a replacement” may be quite high- and this is very prevalent regarding a contractor who is trained specifically on one or more machines. The guide states that you should ask yourself two questions: “what needs to be done and who should do it?”
Step 4: Check What You Have Done
Once you have dealt with the issue at hand, you should “regularly check” to see if your policy regarding alcohol is working, or if it needs updating. The guide, lays out a informative checklist, that be very useful to you as an employer in instigating an effective policy.
- Find out if you have a problem.
- A list of who you need to consult.
- How does your company expect employees to limit drinking?
- Has the employee got a problem? Consider how you can help.
- Is it a health or discipline problem?
- Consider training on alcohol policy, for both staff and managers.
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