Posted By andrew bryan Dear fellow IOSH members, We have received a complaint from an employee, regarding that they alledge some workers are smoking drugs in the smoking hut & other employees are going to the local pub and lunch time and returning back to after consuming alcohol (I have to state that these are just allegations at this stage and they come from an employee who complains and alledges a lot, And so far none off the previous complaints have been true)But never the less, We have to take the claim seriously, We have re-issued out to all employees the D&A policy (which contains D&A rules, Information that random testing will be introduced, disciplinary action and advice on D&A taking, AA etc..) We would also like to introduce random testing for D&A, Alcohol seems to be easy enough to undertake, We are stuck on drugs. A couple of issues we have are, 1) What is the best method. 2) Where do we stand on introducing and informing staff that D&A testing will commence 3) If for example we have an occasional smoker of drugs, who partook in a smoke on Friday PM and we then tested them on Monday, would it still impair their activities for work that day? Apologies for long question,. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. Many Thanks Andrew

Posted By Robert. While I agree with Bob,you may end up with an HR concern here and hitting alot of raw nerves. What if a (large) number of employees refuse to be tested? Do you suspend them and risk a low production out-put? Is a contract of employment written with D&A in mind? The person making the allegations could be asked to provide some reasonable evidence. Possibly naming the individuals who are smoking dope at work. Maybe they are just jealous!! As far as going to the pub at lunchtime, there is a massive difference between someone having a quick half (is that acceptable?)and one who returns to work visibly intoxicated. Personally I think the consumption of alcohol at works lunchbreaks, should be a no-no anyway. Why would A.A be involved if you happened to prove that someone had a lunchtime drink. Likewise would you send an individual to drugs re-hab on a Monday after a smoke at the weekend. Alcoholism and drug addiction are conditions and should not be confused with abuse. If there are problems either way then the company should also provide a policy of assisting / counciling any individuals if it suspects any drug or alcohol related illnesses. Wasn't there a thread relating to the over indulgence of coffee last week? regards

Posted By Mitch Andrew, Depending upon your terms and conditions of employment more than likely a HR problem but could (very)soon become a H&S problem. Get the employee to put the complaint in writing and let them (HR) deal with it.D&D + work not good I'm with the earlier post, no tolerance.