NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL PUBLISHES EMPLOYER TOOLKIT FOR DRUG POLICIES AND ISSUES

The National Safety Council has published an Employer Toolkit for drug policies and issues, which is very informative and comprehensive.  The Toolkit furnishes an employer an excellent "checklist" of various items to consider, including such things as how opioids affect tolerance and ultimately lead to addiction, how to confront an employee, sample employee buy-in approaches, sample policies, and the like.  The policies recommend balancing the safety needs of the employer and workers' health, and suggest the following components:

• Statement of the purpose and scope of the program.

• Definition of what constitutes misuse, including alcohol and all forms of impairing drugs, prescribed, over-the-counter, legal, illegal, synthetic or otherwise.
• Statement of who is covered by the policy and/or program.
• Statement describing under what circumstances drug or alcohol testing will be conducted, including confidentiality of test results.
• Procedures to ensure fair testing process (confirmation testing, use of medical review officers, worker protections against retaliatory testing).
• Training for employees, supervisors, and others in identifying impaired behavior and substance use.
• Employee education (e.g., a substance-free awareness program).
• Procedures for dealing with impaired workers.

• Assistance for those who voluntarily seek help for impairment issues.

• For further information, go to org/opioidsatwork.