Alcohol abuse policy guide

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Alcohol abuse policy guide

February 27th, 2010

Negotiated alcohol and substance abuse policies could steer employers through contradictory legislation on managing intoxication health and safety risks.

Employers are required to prevent yet manage intoxication, respect privacy yet distinguish between drugs and medication, discipline yet assist addicts, and dismiss offenders yet retain skills.

The key to managing health and safety, fair labour practice, maintaining productivity and building a healthy corporate culture, lies in negotiating, adopting, and entrenching a policy, by way of consistent application.

Employers also have to sustain awareness, education, wellness, breath alcohol testing and employee assistance programmes.

Specialists and sources consulted in the drafting of this feature article, including Alcosafe GM Dave Evans, Advantage ACT course and conference notes, a lawyer, a labour specialist, a security officer, a social worker, and a welfare NGO, agree on the crucial role of an alcohol and substance abuse policy and programme development.

Specialists also acknowledge that most employers could not develop or run the programme alone, and would on occasion need at least a specialist trainer, medical doctor, and rehabilitation councilor to assist in managing compliance, labour relations, and occupational health, despite the fact that nearly all substance abuse incidents and addictions are not considered occupational diseases.

Many jobs create the opportunity for substance abuse and addictive behaviour, such as long distance driving or travelling, and jobs with high stress, isolation, physical exertion, bad peer pressure, constant socialising, and access to alcohol.

Abuse risk scope

10% of addicted people can not afford proper treatment
10% of workers are drug dependent (SANCA, Durban)
10% or workers abuse a substance
18% of addicts prefer dagga (marijuana)
25% of the work of addicted workers, are not performed
37% of Western Cape addicts use Methamphetamine (tik)
40% of people who seek treatment for addiction are employed (SANCA)
45% of youth experiment with drugs
15% of adults are addicted to alcohol or illegal drugs
50% of adult abusers prefer alcohol
50% of loss incidents at work involve alcohol or drugs
50% of workplace accidents involve intoxication (SAASWIPP)
50% or addicts sue alcohol
54% of addicts have grade 12 and some form of tertiary education
67% of addicts are older than 22
70% of addicts and alcoholics are employed

Blue collar workers tend to use dagga (source; SAASWIPP). High income earners choose cocaine or heroin. New sources and types of drugs circulate every few months.

Consequences

Consequences of substance abuse at work include safety risks, low productivity, absenteeism, low work quality, theft, fraud, disputes, aggression, violence, and trauma. Drug users are three times more likely to do crime at work.

Substance abuse is directly or indirectly linked to absenteeism, emotional aggression, economic aggression, domestic abuse, bad team spirit, loss, and about half of injuries, illnesses, and occupational fatalities.

Yet another consequence of abuse or addition is depression, affecting the sufferer’s mood, behaviour and health to varying degrees.

Substance abuse or addiction affects people of all cultures, races, sexual orientation, educational, and economic class. Drugs trade networks link into other forms of organised and sporadic crime, and some of these activities could occur at or near workplaces.

Workplace policy elements

Employee representatives must participate in developing and implementing the policy, programmes, and procedures, as a team.

Employees should benefit from the policy by improved safety, lifestyle choices, health, welfare, career prospects, consistent enforcement, and elimination of unfair or selective enforcement. Employers and employees should find agreements before drafting alcohol and drugs abuse programmes and procedures.

The policy should contain at least a written substance abuse policy, procedures for awareness, education, training, effects and consequences of using alcohol and other drugs, access procedure, policy enforcement steps and equipment, alcohol testing procedure, disciplinary procedure, counseling, rehabilitation, and dismissal as a last resort. Counselling and rehabilitation should be freely available

Employees obligations

Employees should comply with requests from employers for breahtaliser tests. They also have to abide by fair and equal treatment of colleagues.

Employer’s duties

Employers have to inform employees or risks and consequences of substance abuse, and should train supervisors on employee rights, privileges, prevention programmes, disciplinary action and the mechanisms of the assistance offered.

Employers must treat addicts fairly and equally, and should set good examples to support a healthy and caring culture, and discourage substance abuse.

Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) should identify and solve health and safety problems related to personal and communal health. Some employers give workers more than the minimum of what they are entitled to, and also offer assistance to victims of abuse and those affected by chronic diseases or HIV /AIDS.

Labour relations

Addiction is a disability, and it is unfair to discriminate against a job applicant or employee on the grounds of disability, unless the job requires discrimination. Employers may refer employees for assessment before transfer or promotion to high risk jobs.

Discrimination at work means that an employee is treated unfairly for reasons unrelated to job skills or performance. Discrimination erodes employee loyalty, team work, job satisfaction, corporate culture, and productivity.

Legislation

General Safety Regulations, amended by a Notice GNR 2003, under section 2A; an employer may not permit any person who is or who appears to be under the influence of intoxicating drugs, to enter or remain at a workplace.

Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995, Code of Good Practice (Schedule on requirements for dismissal; advise employees at risk of alcoholism on counselling, instead of summary dismissal.

Labour Relations Act, chapter 7; Unfair Dismissal, and Schedule 8; Code of Good Practice on Dismissal. There is also an unfair labour practice provision in item 2 of schedule 7. The Code requires employers to adopt and practice disciplinary rules that establish a standard of conduct, known and understood by employees. A substance abuse policy and procedures is the best way of achieving this.

Labour Relations Act; employers must investigate the cause of an employee’s incapacity, and offer relevant treatment, before dismissal. Codes of Good Practice, Schedule 8 under the Act, is also relevant in this regard.

National Road Traffic Act, 93 of 1996: Any person driving, or attempting to drive, a motor vehicle while unfit to drive through alcohol use, can be prosecuted. Guilt could lead to suspension of driving license for six months or more on the first offence. Employers are not required to keep suspended drivers on staff, but an agreed policy, prescribing a programme of awareness, training, testing, assistance, and consistent practice, would ensure fairness and avoid legal disputes.

Employment Equity Act, section 7; medical testing of employees are prohibited unless legislation, as in the aviation or nuclear industry, requires or allows testing. Such tests may be directed to establish relevant medical conditions.

Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Amendment Act, 14 of 1999; several services should be rendered to addicted employees. Employers have to pay for treatment for employees asking for rehabilitation.

Labour agreements are in place about testing and disciplinary proce¬dures. Industrial tribunal records show that dismissal of employees with alcohol problems, without appropriate investigation or fair procedures, could be ruled as unfair.

Abuse management

Employers are usually not aware of the degree of alcohol and drug abuse at work, and underestimate the consequences and potential loss. Supervisors are reluctant to report intoxication and related incidents. Addicts hide their habits. The extent of the problem is usually exposed by a sustained programme, including breathaliser testing at access points, as well as random and scheduled testing.

Raise awareness by inviting specialists to present workshops on site. Pro-active programmes could prevent loss, while programmes following notable loss incidents relating to alcohol are seen for the knee-jerk reactions that they are, and send a message to workers that employers react only to major incidents.

Train supervisors, managers and security staff or contractors in the drugs policy, programmes, and testing equipment operation.

Educate against drug abuse. Prohibit drug abuse. Prevent addictive behaviour. Detect drug abuse early. Identify early symptoms. Late identification of addiction magnifies the problem and the treatment.

Education should include identification of symptoms of substance abuse, intervention tools, employee assistance programmes (EAPs), and recourse to professional assistance.

Intervention programmes and treatment are expensive and in short supply. It may therefore be necessary to find appropriate specialists during the policy development stage.

The Department of Social Welfare’s drugs plan recommends timely intervention, before incidents occur, a structured programme of intervention with a policy, awareness programmes, access to counseling, rehabilitation, training for supervisors, random testing, and compulsory testing of previous offenders.

Employers may use alcohol breathaliser tests to conclude whether employees are intoxicated. Test at access, and randomly on site. Follow up testing for previous offenders. Test after incidents. Test workers performing certain work, and offer a voluntary testing service.

Medical issues

Health and medical confidentiality is protected in various legislation, including the SA Constitu¬tion, in section 14, that guarantees the right to privacy. HIV /ADIS sufferers have the right to confidentiality, and need not disclose medication like anti-retrovirals, despite the side effects of these drugs affecting fitness to work, and thus workplace safety.

Medicinal herbs may cause low blood pressure, drowsiness, or conversely, stimula¬tion and high blood pressure. Many effects from herbal medicines, like herbal tea infusions, may impair concentration, state of mind, balance, coordination, or judgement.

Medi¬cal practitioners have to certify employees fit or unfit to work, but usually do not know the patient’s kind of job or the workplace risks relevant to the side effects of medication. Approved doctors should be trained on the nature, extent and risks associated with particular jobs.

Discipline

Employee refusal to take an alcohol test may constitute willful endangering of the safety of others, which may constitute serious misconduct. Alcohol or substance abuse could constitute misconduct or incapacity.

Intoxication from drinking before work, or at work, and possession of intoxicating substances at work, constitute misconduct. Alcohol or drug dependence should be considered as incapacity.

Employers may dismiss employees for serious misconduct or incapacity, as provided for in Section 188 of the Act. The Code of Good Practice provides guidelines for such dismissal. Endangering the safety of others, or gross insubordination, could constitute serious misconduct, yet dismissal must meet the requirements of Section 188 and Schedule 8.

Dismissal procedure is described in Labour Relations Act, in chapter 7, under ‘Unfair Dismissal’, and in Schedule 8, titled ‘Code of Good Practice on Dismissal’, as well as an unfair labour practice provision in item 2 of schedule 7, provides for dismissal procedure.

The Code of Practice requires employers to adopt and practice disciplinary rules that establish a standard of conduct, known and understood by employees. A substance abuse policy and procedures is the best way of achieving this.

Misconduct magnitude depends on several factors, such as the nature of the job, entrenched policy, risk levels, potential consequences to the employee, colleagues, employer, plant, or public.

The Code provides that first offenders who may suffer dependence, should be referred for assessment, aiming to interrupt addictive behaviour and to stop addiction. Repeat offenders should be referred to medical counseling and rehabilitation. An alternative job, at lower risk, regular testing, and more supervision, may be considered.

Employers should not tolerate intoxication at work, in line with compliance, consequent policy application, and corporate culture.

Wellness

Wellness includes family, financial, social, recreational, legal, emotional and cultural issues. The ideal is a state of good physical, spiritual and mental health, maintained by appropriate diet, exercise, lifestyle and environmental quality.

Proof of wellness is in skin health, muscle tone, body weight index, emotional balance, social balance, communication skills, attitudes, and a realised value system.

Wellness requires some knowledge, like nutritional qualities, avoiding disease or strain, personal hygiene, health literacy regarding packaging and labeling, personal.budgeting, and a saving discipline.

Resources

-Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, 021 447 8026
-Drug-free SA, a Christian-based NGO offering drug testing, assessments, counselling, support groups, and treatment, 011 795 3634, 083 552 5535
-Elim Clinic, Kempton Park, 011 975 2951
-Favour SA, 082 427 7267
-Medical Research Council
-Narcotics Anonymous, 088 129 6791
-SA Association for Social Workers in Private Practice (SAASWIPP)
-SA Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use, 021 938 0419
-SA National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence (SANCA), 011 781 6410, www.sancanational.org.za

PHOTO; A substance abuse policy manages most of the risks that intoxication poses to corporate culture, safety, industrial relations and team work.