Pubdate: 19 Nov, 1999 Source: Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune (Alberta, Canada) Website: http://www.bowesnet.com/dht/ Contact: FRED RINNE Managing Editor Deb Guerette NEW SUBSTANCE-ABUSE GUIDELINES FOR WORKPLACE A GOOD PLACE TO START: AADAC REP New workplace alcohol and drug guidelines are a good tool to help both employers and employees deal with substance-abuse problems, an AADAC training co-ordinator says. An industry, trades and government backed initiative saw February's release of the Canadian Model for Providing a Safe Workplace, Trish Wright told a small audience at AADAC's national addictions awareness week workshop Thursday. The alcohol and drug guidelines and work rule booklet sets out standardized policy "based on safety and respect," Wright said. "It is a very good general policy (and) a very good place to start if you are looking at policy," she said. More and more businesses either have to or want to have policy in place to define a process to address workplace use of alcohol and drugs and many firms have sought copies of the document, Wright said. "Of course, there are the general thou shalt nots," she says, but the purpose of the policy extends to set standards and responsibilities when problems need to be addressed and can be used as one more safety management tool. Effective "policy can't be divorced from other safety management practices," Wright said. Legally established guidelines for impairment exist only for alcohol, but the Canadian Model guideline and work rules policy uses generally accepted substance impairment levels - when drug testing is necessary. Firms can adopt policy requiring pre-employment testing or regular or random drug testing, but most firms still try to "promote a corporate culture of trust." "A lot of companies won't go into testing. They want their employees to want to be there and feel safe," Wright said quoting the business guru who said he would "never work for a company that made him pee in a bottle." Weyerhaeuser Canada safety resource co-ordinator Rod Rutberg says adding workplace alcohol and drug guidelines to safety management practices "absolutely helps make a safer work environment for everyone." Employee education about substance abuse and the guidelines is an important part of an effective policy, he said at the workshop Thursday. Addictions awareness also makes co-workers more likely "to approach people and say the right thing at the right time. There is lots of good help out there if people want it," Rutberg said. One in six Alberta employees misuses alcohol or drugs, Wright says. The many impacts of substance abuse costs $400 million a year in this province, she said. The AADAC workshop - Partners in Performance - was one of several events run to mark addictions awareness week. - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder