Employers failing to crack down on substance abuse in workplace despite zero tolerance

Around a third of UK employers admit they don’t have enough knowledge or training to identify if a worker is under the influence of recreational drugs, a new study has revealed. 87.5 per cent of those surveyed reported that they had a written drugs and alcohol policy in place while a huge 95 per cent claimed to have a zero tolerance approach to employees under the influence of drugs. Despite both, a high proportion of employers indicated that they would struggle to enforce their staff policy and with any policy it only has value if people enforcing them. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research shows that drugs and alcohol are a contributory factor in 26 per cent of the workplace accidents that cost the UK economy over £4bn per annum. With new ‘designer drugs’ on the market such as Mephedrone and Benzo Fury starting to be seen within the workplace, employers can’t afford not to be a position to deal with the issues this presents.

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