Government urged to clarify the law on drug testing at work

If a person has to regularly take prescribed medication, then appropriate measures should be implemented to ensure the safety of the individual and those round them. But surely the abuse or misuse of drugs/alcohol while at work is unacceptable regardless! Even if a person is office based, being high on drugs, suffering the effects of alcohol etc can still be an issue. They could fall down stairs, fall in to the corner of a desk, get dragged in to a shredder by their tie/long hair etc etc.
Having a policy is all well and good (we have one) but it still has to be policed. You can offer all the support in the world, but some people will still abuse substances and suffer the side effects while at work, without owning up to it.

Tricky if employers are going to be fostering and/or advocating the use of 'performance enhancing' drugs from caffiene to amphetamine family in order reduce the affects of fatigue and sustain concentration like Ritalin what is commonly used on Kids and by undergrads swotting for exams.

Sooo, going to be difficult to separate those prescribed from self-medicated as a a way of managing stressors and performance anxiety presenting as coping strategies for those most likely persevering in the fear factory workplace where approval deprivation has become the common currency of poor communication.

There will, of course, always be the toerag and self promoting teflon creep who don't actually do anything however, the majority given the opportunity, will engage and identify with their employer if recognised and just treated reasonably with some pro-social "positive regard" or approval sufficient to feel like they actually belong and are valued as something more than a bit of dispossable potential collateral damage & cannon foda.

For sure performance and productivity it is a drug issue but more of one related to stress hormones driven by emotional state linked to inclusion, approval, asset value and self-esteem that if insidiously eroded will result in presenteeism, fatigue and ultimately illness in order to escape.

Simple'sss