Drug Policies a Hot Topic; Learn from Other Industries

RCS Influencer Martin Stout says we need to be leaders in making policies that protect everyone.

This topic is a very hot button issue and one that keeps changing as the laws and feelings about drug use change over time.

We operate in seven states and the laws are different in a few. The rights of the employee are more important in some and the responsibility of the employer are the focus in others.

Illegal drug use is bad for everyone and should never be tolerated in the workplace and we believe that if we are aware of illegal drug use by one of our employees we have a responsibility to help them get help; our employees are important to us and we want the best for them.  That said, you lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

Where this gets tricky is in states where drugs that were illegal are now legal. How do we adjust our approach to testing and what allowable limits will we as a company and as an industry accept? I believe we need to look at other industries and learn from them i.e. airline pilots are required by law to not drink for eight hours before flight, "Bottle to Throttle" they call it, many airlines require 12 hours and some pilots prefer 24 hours. My uncle who drove a tanker truck for years hauling gasoline and other hazardous liquids was a 24 hour "Bottle to Throttle" guy.

We need to look beyond the letter of the law and remember we have a very dangerous trade and we are asking our men and women to do dangerous work every day. They need to be sober and drug free.  Some have the opinion they what they do on the weekend is their business, and I agree unless they are bringing the remnants of it to work on Monday morning.

If someone gets hurt it affects lots of people and we need to be leaders in making policy that protects everyone.

Martin Stout is president of Go Roof Tune Up, Inc. See his full bio here.