http://safetyconcepts.com.au/386/drug-and-alcohol-abuse-in-the-workplace/ Workplace Health and Safety Information and OHS Resources for Australian Workers Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:11:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://safetyconcepts.com.au/386/drug-and-alcohol-abuse-in-the-workplace/comment-page-1/#comment-2567 Bernie Althofer Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:29:02 +0000 http://safetyconcepts.com.au/?p=386#comment-2567 I find it interesting to walk about city streets and seeing people wearing safety vests, work clothes (including boots) sitting in places having their 'smoko' at 10am with a beer in front of them. One could jump to conclusions and assume that they were at work. What if they started early and had finished their shift? Some people do jump to conclusions based on observations without asking questions. Perhaps there a workplace cultures or even policies that allow the consumption of liquor during a break. As many conferences are now indicating, drug and alcohol policies and even testing seem to be increasing. Perhaps like many other policies, the implementation process does not consider the realities of what really happens in the workplace. Some people really do work hard and do earn a cold drink on a hot day. Finger pointing and jumping to conclusions without asking questions will not solve the problem. On a serious side, tolerance of 'iffy' workplace practices leads to acceptance and when a workplace incident occur, all manner of questions are asked in an effort to find out what happened. Some people might be able to 'handle' larger amounts of liquor whilst others might not realise that it does take time for the body to disperse the amount consumed, and because of this, the liquor remains present for some time, and an incident might occur on the way home. I find it interesting to walk about city streets and seeing people wearing safety vests, work clothes (including boots) sitting in places having their ‘smoko’ at 10am with a beer in front of them. One could jump to conclusions and assume that they were at work. What if they started early and had finished their shift? Some people do jump to conclusions based on observations without asking questions. Perhaps there a workplace cultures or even policies that allow the consumption of liquor during a break. As many conferences are now indicating, drug and alcohol policies and even testing seem to be increasing. Perhaps like many other policies, the implementation process does not consider the realities of what really happens in the workplace. Some people really do work hard and do earn a cold drink on a hot day. Finger pointing and jumping to conclusions without asking questions will not solve the problem. On a serious side, tolerance of ‘iffy’ workplace practices leads to acceptance and when a workplace incident occur, all manner of questions are asked in an effort to find out what happened. Some people might be able to ‘handle’ larger amounts of liquor whilst others might not realise that it does take time for the body to disperse the amount consumed, and because of this, the liquor remains present for some time, and an incident might occur on the way home.

]]> http://safetyconcepts.com.au/386/drug-and-alcohol-abuse-in-the-workplace/comment-page-1/#comment-284 Vince Beitia Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:23:39 +0000 http://safetyconcepts.com.au/?p=386#comment-284 This is spot on stephen , as i have seen it in a workplace Most accidents and neer misses occour soon after lunch break and usually by the same operators. The system fails when the particular workplace does not have a drug and alcohol testing policy and the word quickly spreeds to other drug users . I have seen one man with a drug problem get a job for three mates and become quite smug at the fact that no one will do anything about it. This is spot on stephen , as i have seen it in a workplace
Most accidents and neer misses occour soon after lunch break
and usually by the same operators. The system fails when the particular workplace does not have a drug and alcohol testing policy and the word quickly spreeds to other drug users . I have seen one man with a drug problem get a job for three mates and become quite smug at the fact that no one will do anything about it.

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