One in five workers says they have been put in danger or injured because of a co-worker’s substance abuse. To keep your workplace safe, you have to recognize alcohol abuse that affects job performance and take steps to correct the problem.
Recognizing alcohol abuse is the first step in preventing it in your workplace. A number of signs can tell you if a worker is abusing alcohol.
Performance issues indicating an alcohol abuse problem include:
- Inconsistent work quality
- Poor concentration
- Reduced productivity
- Increased absenteeism (particularly on Mondays)
- Extended lunch breaks
- Early departures
- Carelessness and mistakes
- Errors in judgment
- Risk-taking and disregard for safety
Behavior problems that warn of a possible alcohol problem include:
- Blaming others for problems
- Making excuses for mistakes and accidents
- Mood swings
- Deterioration of personal appearance
- Complaining to co-workers about problems at home
- Complaints about a vaguely defined illness
- Avoiding friends and co-workers
- Frequent financial problems (although you might not learn about this until the company gets a garnishment order or you start hearing things through the grapevine)
Of course, an employee who displays any, or even a number, of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily have a drinking problem. There might be other explanations. But when an employee’s performance deteriorates, and especially when safety is an issue, it doesn’t matter what the reason is—you have to take action.
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Intervention and Prevention
When you or a supervisor recognizes a possible problem, or when a co-worker reports signs of impairment, the supervisor has to sit down with the employee right away and turn the situation around. Here are some tips for successful interventions and the prevention of future problems.
- Focus on job performance, not personal issues. Use performance documentation or incident records to support your case.
- Be clear and firm. Talk about required standards of performance and consequences if expectations are not met. Review your substance abuse policy without making any accusations of alcohol abuse.
- Be supportive. Offer help in resolving performance problems.
- Identify local resources. If the employee admits a drinking problem and your organization has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), refer the employee for treatment. If an EAP is not available, check with HR and get a list of alcohol abuse treatment resources in your area.
- Continue to monitor performance. If job performance continues to decline, apply progressive discipline, as necessary.
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Ready-Made Checklists
When it comes to recognizing and preventing workplace alcohol abuse, Safety Audit Checklists is here to help. The alcohol abuse section tells you—and your managers and supervisors—how to recognize alcohol abuse on the job. It also gives tips for awareness training and discusses intervention and referrals. The section also contains a checklist that helps employees identify a drinking problem.
All told, this best-selling program provides you with more than 300 separate safety checklists keyed to three main criteria:
- OSHA compliance checklists, built right from the government standards in such key areas as HazCom, lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and many more.
- “Plaintiff attorney” checklists, built around those non-OSHA issues that often attract lawsuits.
- Safety management checklists that monitor the administrative procedures you need to have for topics such as OSHA 300 Log maintenance, training program scheduling and recording, and OSHA-required employee notifications.
Make and distribute as many copies as you need for all your supervisors and managers. What’s more, the entire program is updated annually. And the cost averages only about $1 per checklist.
If this method of ensuring a safer, more OSHA-compliant workplace interests you, we’ll be happy to make Safety Audit Checklists available for a no-cost, no-obligation, 30-day evaluation in your office. Just let us know, and we’ll be pleased to arrange it.
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