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Posted By Austin. U
Hi All,
Our company operates a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol and recently a construction worker was breathalysed at the start of work and found to have 0.6mg/ml.This action was necessary on that day because he was smelling seriously of alcohol.
Disciplinary action has been recommended against the worker.
Please I wish to know if there is any legal backing for this policy and if non,then what is the allowable alcohol limit on construction sites?
Regards,
Austin.
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Posted By Bob Shillabeer
In short it is down to the employer. If the employer says drinking is forbidden and carries the penalty of dismissal and this is accepted by the employees as a whole then it is fully appropriate for it to become a dismisal action. The rail industry has had a non alochol or drugs policy for many years now and have enforced it on quite a number of ocassions without any hue and cry from employees or the Unions. The Unions actually accept and support the policy when it is fairly administered. If the employer makes it clear that drinking or taking illegal drugs will not be tolerated and the penalty for breaching this rule is dismissal then they are in the clear.
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Posted By Ali
It's a difficult one only because even if he had not been drinking "at work" he could still be carrying alcohol in his blood from a binge the previous evening depending on his size, amount drunk and his metabolism. Where do you draw the line - stop drinking activities on a sunday ?
Ali
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Posted By Ian D.
Hi Austin
The drink dive limit is 80mg, if you are below this you are perceived, in law, to be sufficiently able to drive a motor vehicle.
You state the reading was 0.6mg. This is virtually zero, taking into account the accuracy of the test equipment. I think you would have a difficult time at a tribunal if it came to that.
Maybe a more sensible approach would be to have a quite word regarding the problems of working with the smell of alcohol etc. That is assuming the 0.6mg is not a typo error.
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Posted By Ian Dale
There does appear to be confusion as to the units of measurement.
In the UK the drink driving limits are as follows:
breath - 35 micrograms/100ml of breath
blood - 80 milligrams/100ml of blood
Perhaps the correspondents could review their input and ensure that the appropriate units are used.
Ian Dale
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Posted By Mark Farrell
Mr Dale is correct, the .6 reading suggests that you are talking about a mg % calculated by a digital alcotester.
Your company must have a policy on Alcohol and I would refer to that for clarification.
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Posted By Bob Shillabeer
Sotrry Ali it is not that difficult. The railways have had a ban in place for some twenty years now and it does work quite well. You must not consume alcohol when on duty or report for work while under the influence, end of story. It is quite well understood but there are some people who cjoose to ignore it and have been treated properly under the system, thats is they have been sacked.
It is quite something to have a no alchol process which in 99% of the cases is followed and the odd1% are seriously putting not only themseslve at risk but those who are affected by that persons actions. The railway system works well and is accepted as normal on Britains railways.
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Posted By Ian D.
Hi Bob, I refer back to my original response (thanks Ian Dale for the clarification) At a level of 0.6mg measured against a driving limit of 35, can you truly state that he is still under the influence of drink? To dismiss someone with this level of alcohol would be brave.
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Posted By tomahawk
We have recently fired someone for being in breach of our D&A policy which (being a railway company) has limits set by Network Rail. ie compared with the drink driving limits are:-
Limits Alc in urine Alc in Blood Breath
Driving 107/100ml 80mg/ml 35mgr/100
NWR 39mg/100ml 29mg/100ml 13mgrms/100
This is accepted by all staff, is included in contracts of employment and at induction. We have never had an emplymet tribunal issue or legal problem with this since 1991 or thereabouts.
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