The groups hope to provide education and recommendations aimed at raising awareness and better understanding of worker impairment.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Drug Abuse Costs Employers $81 Billion Per Year
The groups hope to provide education and recommendations aimed at raising awareness and better understanding of worker impairment.
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7 comments:
I think this article may want to make a better distinction between weed and abuse of prescription medication. I think it is really sad that the people with three jobs are more likely to have drug problems hen people with one stable job; just thinking about what kind of situation that is, is again a bit sad. The marijuana laws changing proposes an interesting dilemma.A person cannot really be fired for being sick or having health problems if it does not get in the way of work. At the same time if their medication is weed, well then they cannot be high on the job. I understand why employers are growing concerns.
There are already very many distractions to being productive. Adding another layer could only degrade performance further. I would imagine the distractions that stem from drug use or the mental presence of drug use could easily pull someone out of their work or decrease their productivity. It also seems that when someone is hooked on this, they would find ways to cut corners or get out of responsibilities just because they are not themselves. In the case of jobs that can be dangerous, such as working in the shop, this drug use could quickly create injuries or accidents and then where does the blame fall? It would be hard to say the employer has no fault but what did they do wrong?
Drug use in a work environment or even just with employees on their own time has always been something that has plagued the work zone. What Simon says about the distinction between prescription drugs and illegal drugs could be an important distinction to make, but not so much in this case. Individuals who let their habits impede on their work productivity or the productivity of others should not be allowed to continue in that work place. It is a factor of money as well as safety in the work environment that people must keep in mind.
So what happens if I wrench my back or have surgery and have a completely legal perscription for narcotics? Is that ok because it's been legal longer? This logic only works if it's applied consistently over every single substance that MIGHT lead to on the job injury. What if I drank too much caffeine and was so jittery I dropped my crane load?
The uneducated scare tactics I've seen used across OSHA and EHS type websites regarding the legalization of marijuana are really atrocious. In fact, I'd say legalizing marijuana use and controlling it will go a long way to PREVENT workplace drug abuse, because legal things can be regulated and controlled (ish). Obviously coming to work high is unacceptable, but I fail to see how this is any different than current workplace policies regarding drinking on the job.
I think its important to look at the affects of each particular drug before judging what is okay to use at the work place and what is not. Just because a drug is legal does not mean its okay to be using in the workplace. Like Lindsay mentioned, suppose someone has used to much caffeine they physically can't keep their hand steady enough for open heart surgery. Or suppose an artist who uses marijuana in a state where its legal is able to produce more creative results, while at the same time does nothing that impairment could potentially lead to injury or decreased productivity as compared to say a fork lift operator. I think that employers should consider legality first obviously, but also how the drug affects the user and what they will be doing under the influence of that drug.
I firmly believe that it shouldn't be the decision of anybody but yourself as to what you put in your body. This being said, if it effects the way you perform at work you should be punished for it. If your expected to be at work at 9 am every morning and work your damn best you better do it. If someone can do that under the influence of drugs then good on them, but if not, bye, I don't want to be under the guy thats so doped up that he could barely hold onto his wrench. I could care less if it's marijuana or prescription pills, if you're a hazard to me and the people around me I would rather you not be there. Also, if I we're running a business and I was loosing money to people using drugs illegally, you can bet they won't be working for me for much longer.
I can definitely see the concern some agencies and employers have regarding drug abuse in the workplace or at least it affect job performance. I do think that this is an issue that has probably been around for a while. On the topic of marijuana, I agree with Lindsay and Sam. How is this different than other drugs with performance affecting sideeffects. It really depends on the drug and employers shouldn't be as concerned, but instead just update their policies like they do for other medically prescribed drugs. As for drugs in the workplace, that hasn't changed at all in mu opinion. I could be wrong, but I don't see what has caused it to become a bigger problem recently.
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