In some industries, such as agriculture, more than one in ten people smoke cannabis. Companies are implementing a prevention policy.
Would work make you sick? Sick to the point of regularly consuming alcohol or cannabis? This is the question that arises when reading the Health Barometer of the national institute for prevention and education for health, Inpes. In sectors such as construction, agriculture and fishing, there are twice as many daily drinkers than in the general population. The world of work is also very affected by the use of cannabis. In construction, Inpes identified 13% of employees who consumed during the year against less than 7% among all working people. The entertainment and communication sectors are also obviously very affected. On the other hand, good news, the health sector and even those of education are seen as a model. The rate of consumption of so-called “psychoactive” substances by specialists is lower than average.
Guiding companies in drug testing
Such a finding had never been established before. It therefore has the great merit of existing. Now the link between work and drug use should be made in moderation. Admittedly, more than a third of regular smokers (36.2%), 9.3% of alcohol users and 13.2% of cannabis users declare that they have increased their consumption because of problems related to their work or their situation. professional during the past 12 months. But, “the reinforcement of these addictive behaviors appears to be significantly more important among the unemployed than among the employed”, say the authors of this report. They go even further, believing in a way that “work is health” and that “like settling in as a couple or the birth of the first child, entering the world of work seems to be the opportunity to give up the consumption of psychoactive substances for a majority of people who use drugs during their youth. “
The interministerial mission of the fight against drugs and drug addiction – the Mildt – therefore seized the ball. In the wake of Inpes, it has just published a guide to help companies put in place a prevention policy for the risks associated with drug consumption. And obviously there was an emergency.
Patrick Buchard, founder of the firm Hasse, specialist in the prevention of alcoholism in companies and co-author of this guide: “Drug screening in the company, it was the rat race”.
Beyond these tests, the guide specifies how to mobilize relay people in the company, how to explain to everyone the difference between alerting and denouncing, to whom to refer an employee a difficulty … The company must also identify the specific positions. at risk.
Patrick Buchard : “A positive test should never lead to a sanction”.
For the moment, drug testing is hardly practiced in business. And saliva tests have not yet been validated by any NF standard. But, given the figures from Inpes, it could develop. Especially since the national advisory committee on ethics issued an opinion last May. For him, there is no ethical argument against employers resorting to systematic or unannounced screening measures, if the goal is to guarantee the safety of their customers and employees.
To know more :
The guide “Benchmarks for a prevention policy for the risks associated with drug consumption in the workplace”
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