Drug and Alcohol Policies
Employers have a legal duty to protect employees health, safety and welfare.
Understanding the signs of drug and alcohol misuse (or abuse) will help you to manage
health and safety risk in your workplace, develop a policy to deal with drug and alcohol-related problems and support your employees.
What the issues are and what to look out for Misuse is not the same thing as dependence. Drug and alcohol misuse is the use of illegal drugs and misuse of alcohol, medicines and substances such as solvents.
Consider these warning signs, which could indicate drug or alcohol misuse:
unexplained or frequent absences a change in behaviour unexplained dips in productivity more
accidents or near-misses performance or conduct issues
These can also be signs of other things, like stress or illness.
You must consult employees or their representatives on health and safety matters. Consultation involves you not only giving information to
employees but also listening to them and taking account of what they say.
You could ask your employees what they know about the effects of drugs and alcohol on health and
safety and the restrictions or rules on drug and alcohol use in your business.
Don't just take our word for it
We first began to use the services of BeyondHR as a result of a TUPE situation which we encountered during 2011 and since then, we have continued to retain their Human Resource and Health & Safety Management Service. The vast experience and hands on approach from BeyondHR has helped us to deal with a number of challenging issues over the years. The team at BeyondHR are not only a friendly bunch but they have always been willing to go the extra mile in order to achieve the correct result for our business.
Tony Kirkpatrick, Operations Director | River Ridge Recycling
EB Gas engaged the services of BeyondHR over a decade ago and have found the work of the experienced and knowledgeable team to be an invaluable resource. We continue to rely on their practical and hands-on support in relation to a wide variety of HR issues, tailored, where necessary to suit our business and our specific policies. The service gives us the confidence that we are dealing with our employees in a fair manner whilst also protecting ourselves from the plethora of problems that could potentially arise from the mismanagement of difficult HR situations. I would recommend the service to anyone who is responsible for the employment of a workforce.
Kevin Byrne, Owner | EB Gas Services
BeyondHR have been our retained HR Advisors for our Stores and Distribution Centre in Northern Ireland since 1999. Helen, Neil and the rest of the team offer an extremely professional service to their clients and are always on hand to answer a wide range of queries in a timely manner whilst always taking our business needs into consideration. The service that we have received from BeyondHR has been second to none and I would have no hesitation in recommending their services to other Employers.
Enda Keenan, Group HR Manager | Heatons
Youth Link has received human resource management support from BeyondHR since April 2011. The service provided has included development of Employee Handbook, advice and support regarding recruitment and other HR issues arising. This has proved invaluable to the organisation.
Paddy White, Director | Youth Link
Having been a client of BeyondHR since 2000, I very much value the professionalism and dedication shown by all their team members. With the expert and practical assistance we have managed our human resources efficiently within the very recent difficult economic times, through dramatic contraction to now exponential growth. As a business owner faced with a raft of complex H.R. legislation, BeyondHR has given me confidence in dealing with such matters through the provision of legal and workable solutions, and as such, this has allowed me to focus on other important aspects of our business.
Peter Doherty, Managing Director | Garage Door Systems Ltd
BeyondHR provided calm, professional and reassuring advice to help our organisation work through complicated issues. I would recommend them most highly to anyone. They go above and beyond.
Dr Kirsten Kearney, Chief Executive | ESC Films
We engaged BeyondHR from the inception of Bellrock Technology in 2012. As a new CEO I wanted to ensure that we started taking on employees in a professional way as well as correctly managing our employment relationships. BeyondHR provided us with employment documentation that is legally compliant as well as being tailored to our needs and I have peace of mind knowing that I can call upon the BeyondHR team whenever I need practical hands-on HR support. I would recommend BeyondHR to any startup or SME – it is definitely money well spent.
Adam Brown, CEO | Bellrock Technology Ltd
