Why Is It Important for Management to Be Able to Identify Symptoms of Substance Abuse in the Workplace?

Question by Bradslady: Why is it important for management to be able to identify symptoms of substance abuse in the workplace?
Describe potential negative effects of substance abuse during personal hours that might affect the company. Why are workplace substance abuse interventions so important? What legal concerns do managerial staff need to be aware of when employees may be abusing substances?

Best answer:

Answer by Wayne
If they are on drugs, they could get hurt. If they are addicts, they may even steal to support their habit.

Answer by commandant
Depending on the nature of the task performed i.e. manufacturing with heavy machinery can impact the incidence of workplace accidents as well as affect the quality of the product. Evidence of drugs in the system does not follow the 8 hrs on and 16 hour off formula. If one gets ripped the night before, evidence of the substance remains in his body. Should an outside salesperson cause an accident that results in death or serious bodily injury while in the course and scope of his employment and the substance is found in his system the employer has incurred tremendous financial liability as well as a severe impact to the company reputation.

From a morale perspective, if it is against policy for an employee to use illegal substances, and does, it is often the non users that discover it first. This creates low morale and impacts productivity. Finally, if an employee uses drugs during off hours and gets arrested the reputation of the company suffers and can impact the bottom line.

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