Some businesses may treat drug use that occurs outside of allocated work hours as not really a workplace problem. That, however, is not really the case, as stressed in an article on the Industry Update website.
The truth about recreational drugs at work
According to the article, two factors decide the truth on the subject. One is the inadvertent allusion to drug use being done outside of work. This is caused by our societal tendency to refer to all non-prescription drugs as ‘recreational’. The other is the fact that recreational drug use can render workers unfit for work and pose as a danger to everyone in the workplace. The physiological and behavioural changes drug users go through is the root cause for this.
The article also cites a submission made by the Australian Industry Group (AiGroup) to a Parliamentary inquiry. The submission mentions a National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA). The statistics cited in the report can be troubling.
The NCETA report revealed that the transport, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, retail and hospitality industries have a higher propensity for drug use. Even more disturbing is the finding that 2.5% of the workforce admitted to showing up for work while under the influence of drugs.
Click here to read the article in full.
What the article is saying is that drug use will always be a workplace problem. It doesn’t matter if the employee only uses on weekends. Recreational drugs as we know them have long-term effects. These long term effects can take a toll on one’s job performance. Worse, it can put everyone in the workplace at risk for accidents and the like.
