A consensual approach to workplace substance abuseFrom rehabilitation to prevention |
| [ Drug and alcohol abuse prevention ] |
There is a long tradition of programmes to address the problem of substance abuse by workers. These have traditionally focussed on the identification and rehabilitation of workers with severe alcohol, and more recently drug abuse problems. However, as understanding of the sheer scope, nature and costs of the problem has deepened, the more progressive enterprises, organizations and countrieshave moved a much greater emphasis on the development of broad consensual partnerships at the workplace and beyond designed to achieve a real improvement in the situation.
One of the chief problems in combating drug and alcohol abuse in the workplace and in society lies in the widespread acceptance of the social consumption of alcohol, and increasingly drugs. The difficulties involved in developing a sound distinction between social drinking involving small quantities of alcohol and the very real dangers to health and safety of abusive consumption are well illustrated by the problems experienced in almost all countries in applying drink-driving regulations. It is also very difficult in some wine- and beer-producing countries to dissuade workers, even in such inherently hazardous industries as transport or construction, from drinking wine or beer with their lunch.
In view of their strong traditions of social dialogue, it is hardly surprising that the Nordic countries were among the earliest in which the social partners joined with other actors to develop joint drug and alcohol abuse prevention initiatives. The earliest and longest-standing of these initiatives include the Alna Council in Sweden, originally set up in the 1960s by national employers' and workers' organizations, and the Akan system in Norway, also developed by the social partners in the 1960s, which brings together representatives of employers, workers and occupational health services.
Countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands carry out annual national campaigns against drug and alcohol abuse with strong tripartite involvement. An interesting example of a policy shift towards a broad alliance on this issue is the Finnish National Alcohol Programme, developed in 1997, which marked an important change in policy from the use of price and supply controls to restrict the consumption of alcohol. Under the Programme, emphasis is placed on participation and awareness among citizens and employers, workplace alcohol and drug programmes and prevention.
The increasingly widespread recognition of the need for a joint consensual approach to address drug and alcohol abuse resulted in the adoption in 1995 of the ILO's Code of practice on the management of alcohol- and drug-related issues in the workplace.
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