Risk assessment, policy design and implementation

It is essential for every organisation to have a fully comprehensive workplace drug and alcohol policy. Without this policy the company is unnecessarily exposed to a large number of legal risks and will not have the foundations for adequate procedures to be followed.

Most organisations will at some point encounter employee substance misuse problems. It is sensible to have measures in place rather than leave the organisation exposed.

UKASSA’s legal team has extensive experience of implementing workplace drug and alcohol policies. Our commercial lawyers are fully certified to the ISO 9001 quality management certification. They work very closely with a large number of commercial organisations and within the NHS on regulatory and compliance matters.

Using fully trained and experienced solicitors is the only way to ensure that the drug and alcohol policy fully covers the organisation against legal risk. The process can be complex, legislation to consider as a starting point is as follows:

A. THE HEALTH & SAFETY AT WORK ACT 1974
B. MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH & SAFETY AT WORK REGULATIONS 1999
C. TRANSPORT AND WORKS ACT 1992
D. ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 1988
E. MISUSE OF DRUGS ACT 1971
F. DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1995
G. DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION REGULATIONS 1996
H. HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998
I. CORPORATE MANSLAUGHTER ACT 2008

UKASSA can help organisations to ensure that their existing policies are fully adequate and can help with the amendment and development of any existing policies. We can then work alongside the HR team to develop procedures for dealing with employees who have problems with substance misuse. We incorporate a disciplinary approach with supportive measures to guide the employee towards treatment services. It is of fundamental importance that the policy is guided and developed from an ethical and supportive perspective. The workforce must accept the policy as something that is designed to help them and not something that is designed to ‘catch them out’.