Model workplace substance abuse prevention programmes in Malaysia |
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Malaysia was one of five countries (the others were Egypt, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe) in which the ILO implemented a Norwegian-funded project in 1998 and 1999 to mobilize small and medium-sized businesses to prevent substance abuse. The primary focus of the project was to prevent the adverse consequences of substance abuse in small and medium-sized businesses, with the aims of enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the businesses and promoting health and safety in the workplace.
During the course of the project, a total of 44 small and medium-sized businesses implemented the drug-free workplace programme (the original target had been 30 businesses). Workplace programmes were designed to be comprehensive and preventive, and to target youth, the group with the highest incidence of drug use, as well as parents, families and employers. The strategies included primary prevention, the rehabilitation of problematic employees and the identification of drug pushers among employees. Programmes were implemented as an integral components of human resource management functions. Participating enterprises developed a drug-free workplace policy and set up a committee for the implementation of the programme.
In an evaluation survey carried out at the end of the project period, over 80 per cent of respondents reported improvements in business performance, with particular reference to increased productivity, a decrease in work-related accidents, lower absenteeism and a fall in medical costs and compensation. Some 90 per cent of respondents felt that the programme should be sustained and would recommend it to other companies and organizations.
The National Drugs Agency, Ministry of Home Affairs, was the host organization at the national level and included the project as part of its vision to create a drug-free generation by 2023, based on drug-free families, schools, workplaces and communities. The drug-free workplace vision is based on a series of progressive targets for the achievement of drug-free workplaces in the public and private sector, culminating in the target of 100 per cent public and private drug-free workplaces in 2023. As part of this vision, the National Drugs Agency set up a Special Committee for Drug Prevention in the Workplace in 1999. Implementation of the vision involves the development of "smart partnerships" between the government, the business community, NGOs and schools.
The project culminated in the organization of a National Dissemination Seminar in December 1999, attended by both representatives of participating businesses and of other companies interested in implementing similar programmes. A Manual for Mobilizing Small and Medium Businesses to Prevent Substance Abuse, which was prepared as part of the project, was launched at the National Dissemination Seminar. Exhibition modules on drug abuse prevention were also developed and a drug-free workplace website has been established.
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