Abstract
Drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace represents a great risk to employee’s health and safety. More than 50% of the employees worldwide are related to easily accessible drug abuse, while 70% of the employees are related to alcohol abuse in the workplace. Tests for detecting drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace should be part of a new regulation, compulsory for all employees in the Republic of Macedonia. Implementing this sort of testing program should at the same time be a step towards devising particular solutions that shall bring about greater safety in the working environment. A key element in the implementation is to devise and establish an adequate policy that shall determine the risk factors within a working establishment which shall clearly express its position regarding drug and alcohol abuse during working hours. Along with the risk factors, the policy may also include the program for testing both, employees and the ones who are about to be employed, for drug and alcohol abuse. In order to implement this sort of test, it must be in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (Official gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, No 92/07, 2007) and a legal framework has to be defined, that shall regulate and solve numerous aspects of this issue, in order to fully implement the program for drug free working environment pursuant to the Declaration and the decrees of the United Nations General Assembly in 1998.
Highlights
Drugs and alcohol are a plausible and definite risk for the employees’ safety in the work environment (Ghodse, 2005)
According to the statistics more than 50% of employees worldwide are connected with misuse of readily available drugs and 70% of them with alcohol abuse in the workplace (Bennett, Lehman, 2000)
The introduction of the drug testing program should at the same time be an introduction to the process of solution making that will signify greater safety in the workplace
Summary
Drugs and alcohol are a plausible and definite risk for the employees’ safety in the work environment (Ghodse, 2005). The abuse of alcohol and drugs can occur in any workplace. According to the statistics more than 50% of employees worldwide are connected with misuse of readily available drugs and 70% of them with alcohol abuse in the workplace (Bennett, Lehman, 2000). The impairment of behavior can result in increased risk of injury or harm (Drug & Alcohol Information Centre, 2007) and this kind of abuse can affect employees’ productivity, safety and security, decision making, morale, as well as the organizational image and the community relations (Breugem et al, 2006). In the Republic of Macedonia testing for drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace should be a new legal regulation, mandatory for all employees. The Poison Control Center (PCC) (together with the toxicological laboratory) should be the carrier of the activities related to drug testing at the workplace as well as in developing new programs for testing, control and education that can help employers cope with this kind of issues
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