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.

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