Cost Effective Ways to Keep Drugs Out of the Workplace

Nobody wants to work in a workplace where the employees bring the party with them, or where they feel they might be exposed to unsafe behaviour or illegal and harmful substances. However, people are equally reluctant to spend time in a workplace that is overly regulated or where they feel watched, and employers simply don’t have the money to spare t implement complex drug abuse prevention programmes.

However, that’s not to say there aren’t changes that can be made to ensure drugs are kept out of the workplace

Make your drug policy clear

Deterrence is a huge part of prevention when it comes to employees taking liberties with workplace drug policies.

You should make it clear right from the beginning of an employee’s term that your company carries out random drug testing, and make sure you actually do so once every few months. This way, you avoid having to invest in a rigorous regular drug testing program but make sure people are aware it’s something you keep an eye on. You also need to make it clear that failing such a test is a fireable offence – if people know they might be found out and that their livelihood is at risk, they will think twice about mixing drugs and the workplace.

Conducting Screenings

Conducting screenings might sound like it would be a very complicated operation which would take a lot of planning, but in reality it’s as simple as buying a Health Street 5 panel drug test for everyone you want to screen and ensuring that they conduct the test – no military level precision planning necessary! 

This also won’t be too much of a financial investment as these are the standard drug screening tests for employers, meaning they are available at an affordable price. Additionally, if you adopt a policy of screening new employees followed by subsequent random testing, you are never going to have to test your entire work force at once, which has the helpful consequence of keeping costs down.

Obviously, you will never be able to control what decisions people make and what activities they partake in outside the workplace – and nor should you. However, by ensuring that your drug policy is clear, your deterrents are consistent and implemented regularly, you will be able to effectively deter drug use in the workplace as well as keeping costs to a minimum.

Provide information and resources

As well as the fact that problems such as addiction have a major genetic element to them which makes it difficult for people to battle their negative relationships with substances such as drugs and alcohol, another large problem is ignorance or lack of education. 

Although everyone is aware of what drugs are and that being addicted to them is best avoided, many aren’t educated on the effects of drug abuse on their health, and the potential ramifications it could have for their personal and professional lives and relationships.

You should make an investment in comprehensive informational materials that your employees are provided with upon employment and which they can access at any time to refresh their memories. 

Such materials should also include information on resources that can be accessed should an employee be experiencing mental health problems or problems with substance abuse. 

Although this may seem counterproductive as it doesn’t actively condemn substance abuse, creating a supportive environment in which employees are aware they can safely access help and resources actually improves workplace respect, relationships and morale. Additionally, it can even prevent mental health problems (including addiction) from developing in the first place as employees feel a greater satisfaction with their lives and workplace.

Expert speakers

Similarly to providing educational resources, this is another way to bolster employees’ understanding of the problem of drug and substance abuse and why it’s important that the workplace remains a drug free zone. For those who don’t make use of the paper or e-resources provided, a great way to make sure the right information reaches them nevertheless is to bring in a speaker on the topic.  This could be someone from an addiction service or relevant charity, or perhaps a recovered addict.

This doesn’t have to be a regular occurrence – a seminar or presentation once a year, which keeps costs low, would be ideal. Similarly to diversity training and other similar initiatives, expert speaker presentations can be extremely helpful in ensuring the workforce are well educated not only on the nature and ramifications of drug abuse but also on your company’s position on the issue. It serves to reinforce learning and company policy.

Keeping drugs out of the workplace is an important issue which is of special concern to many employers, especially at the current time when we are seeing rising cases of drug abuse nationally and globally. However, making sure that your workplace remains a drug free zone doesn’t have to be a huge financial cost. Clarifying company policy, enforcing pre employment drug screenings and providing informational resources and content are all affordable ways you can help keep drugs out of the workplace.

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