Businesses and industries implement a lot of rules to ensure smooth and reliable transactions within the workplace. However, with the growing number of substance abuse cases, workplaces have also seemed to suffer the same issue with some of their employees. A survey in the United States shows that a significant percentage of workplace administrators in the country have observed substance abuse among their employees.
Like any other problem in workplaces, substance drug abuse also results to monetary losses to the company. It is for this reason that random drug testing in the workplace has gained in popularity.
Signs of Substance Abuse
If you are a family member or an office administrator who suspects that the changing habits of a person might be caused by substance abuse, then as well as understanding what the DOT requirements for drug and alcohol testing are, these signs could help you support your suspicion:
Restlessness and Talkativeness
If one of your co-workers has become more talkative than ever, then this might be a sign that the person is engaged in substance abuse. Sure, workplaces have at least one talkative employee who would talk about anything he or she remembers, but the talkativeness of a person addicted to something else might come without tact and might come out disrespectful in some cases.
Lack of motivation
People who engage in substance abuse generally lack or lose the motivation to deliver tasks assigned to them. This could easily be observed especially if the person was once a reliable employee and then suddenly shows the worst case of mood swings, unexplained nervousness, and lack of focus, forgetfulness and low self-esteem.
Poor grooming
A person who loses control of himself due to substance abuse would easily neglect good grooming. Since people dress up for work, this can easily be observed in the early days of substance abuse.
Lack of appetite or sudden increase in appetite
The early signs of substance abuse include either a sudden increase in appetite or the lack of it. Effects differ from one person to the other depending on the drugs being used or depending on how the body responds to it.
Effects of Substance Abuse in the Workplace
One of the common problems of substance abuse is continued absenteeism or overall loss of productivity. However, there are many negative effects in the workplace caused by this.
Some of these are the following:
Increased cases of creating trouble with co-workers
When one gets a bad case of mood swings every single workday, chances are, this would create a problem among team members. Work delivery would be affected that could also, later on, lead to broken friendships.
Low performance
Meeting deadlines, working with teammates, efficient delivery of individual tasks – these are things that a person going through substance abuse might have a hard time achieving in the workplace. Low performance results to monetary loss, and this is why it should be watched out for early on.
Increased cases of missing office and personal properties
When people go through addiction and already feel the effects of it financially, they are likely to resort to taking company property and sell them to support their drug needs. Instances of lost valuables in the office should be reported to the office administrator so they can act on it immediately.
Managing Employees Suffering from Substance Abuse
It might be a big challenge for company owners and office administrators to handle an instance of substance abuse among their employees. It is best that company owners should carefully review the laws related to it.
Here are some tips that can help people manage employees engaged in substance abuse:
Conduct a regular review of everyone’s performance
A regular review of employees’ performance would be a big help in providing an overall assessment that would gauge the trends in employee’s delivery of tasks.
Consider creating an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
While most EAPs are aimed to help employees resolve personal issues affecting job performance, an EAP focusing on substance abuse may also be created for employees who are going through or recovering from it. This could include regular drug testing to ensure that the basis is credible enough to support the proposed guidelines of the program
Ask help from a Healthcare Professional
Workplaces should also consider seeking the assistance of healthcare professionals to handle these cases. The service should be easily accessed and readily available to employees who need it to resolve the problem early on.
