It’s that time of the year when businesses are planning and setting objectives for 2021. Can you afford to ignore your Alcohol and Other Drugs policy and leave it out of date - or worse, unimplemented - for another year? It is time to make this policy useful, robust, and understood by all employees!
The Alcohol and Other Drugs policy should be reviewed for currency. It should also cover prescription and over-the-counter medicines and how you will handle these. Some medicines can be impairing at work and employees should understand how they can comply with the policy.
But how will your workers understand what to do if they don’t know or understand the policy? How can supervisors implement a policy if they don’t feel confident in recognizing potential impairment? Or if they don’t understand the process to follow? A policy which isn’t regularly discussed, trained or communicated leaves a business legally exposed.
Would face to face training, a webinar, animated toolbox videos or factsheets be helpful? How could these be implemented? What will be your communication strategy?
Should there be alcohol and drug testing? If it is in the policy but there is no testing, the benefits of increased awareness about “fitness for work” are not being realized. The police “booze bus” is a deterrent to drink driving because there is always the chance of being tested. The same applies to workplace alcohol and drug testing. If there is a possibility of being tested then workers become more aware of being “fit for work”.
So don’t ignore your Alcohol and Other Drugs policy in 2021. DASA can help. Our team can review your existing policy or help write a new policy if needed. We can also support you with training and education material for your workers. And if it is testing that you need, we can help with that too. Get in touch today via info@dasa.net.au
DASA (Drug and Alcohol Solutions Australia) is proud to be leading the way in workplace drug and alcohol services throughout Australia. Whether your need is for workplace drug testing and workplace alcohol testing, advice on drug and alcohol policy or ideas on how to communicate your workplace expectations, policies and procedures to your staff, DASA can help. We have the experience, technical expertise and people to lead you to the right solution.