Smoking policies, drugs and alcohol abuse

Introduction

Smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse can significantly weaken your business' performance. Disruption to your business can occur both in terms of lost productivity by the employee in question and in damage to workplace morale.

Staff with a drug or alcohol problem may take time off sick or have unexplained absences, the quality of their work may suffer and they may also abuse fellow workers.

Drug and alcohol abuse can also pose a serious risk to workplace safety, particularly for workers whose job involves tasks such as operating machinery or driving a vehicle.

As part of your responsibilities for health and safety it's a good idea to draw up clear policies on smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse and to make sure that these are complied with.

This guide outlines how to identify and deal with problems in these areas. It also explains the need to put in place support services and disciplinary procedures.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Define your policies on smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse
• Smokefree policies
• Dealing with alcohol abuse
• Dealing with drug abuse
• Manage stress effectively
• Counselling and support
• Checklist: what your smoking, drug and alcohol abuse policies should cover
• Discipline, grievance and dismissal procedures

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