With the drug problems proliferating in the United States, Bermudian employers are trying to stop the epidemic from spreading into local workplaces.

Although Bermuda’s drug problem is not as pervasive as is being seen in North America, it is still an issue.

The Construction Association of Bermuda held a dinner this week where the hot topic was the state of the local drug culture — and what may be coming next.

Vaughn Mosher, managing director of Benedict Associates was keynote speaker at the dinner.

Benedict Associates has been providing policy and screening for work places for nearly 20 years, including many joint labour/management policies.

Mr Mosher explained how companies, both large and small, can establish policies to help ensure safer, drug-free working environments.

Mr Mosher said: “Small companies do not need an HR department, what they need to have is a solid foundation and policy.

“Even if the company is small they can still have a policy to protect against employees abusing drugs.”

Statistically, larger companies with HR and who use the Employee Assistance Programme create relatively drug-free workforces and if an employee has abused drugs they tend to clean up and stay with their current employer.

But employees who stay with their drugs of choice will effectively terminate themselves by their continued drug-using behaviour. And they seek employers, usually smaller companies, who do not have drug policies and procedures.

The expectation of workplaces to be drug-free is increasing and the struggle between individual rights and company rights is mounting, therefore employers need strategies with integrity to cope successfully.

An example of this is the subject of decriminalisation of cannabis.

Mr Mosher advises employers that even if the drug is decriminalised, that doesn’t rule out having laws in place against using it inside the working environment — just as often applies with alcohol.

“I am not against cannabis being decriminalised, I am actually for it,” Mr Mosher said. “I think it’s important for decision-makers to base what they want in policies.”

He believes effective policy becomes the foundation of how you conduct business, and drug-screening without policy can become contentious for many reasons.

Effective policy should include key elements and appropriate wording to meet certain criteria, including all reasons for screening, such as pre-employment, reasonable cause to suspect, random selection, post-treatment target and contractual obligation.

Cocaine and marijuana have been the most common drugs used in Bermuda over the years, as well as a continued low prevalence of PCP, amp, meth and MDMA, according to Mr Mosher.

Although heroin has been a constant problem in the community for many years, incidence in the workplace has remained low until recently.

Charles Dunstan, managing director at Kaissa Ltd, is also a representative of the Construction Association of Bermuda.

He told The Royal Gazette that the industry body intended to keep its members up-to-date with relevant information.

He said: “We want to offer solutions for employers on how to deal with staff members and how to create a drug-free workplace policy with training and education.

“It is very important for the construction industry to have a drug-free environment, as the workers’ lives and the lives of people around us could be at risk if workers are impaired.

“Here at Kaissa we drug-test all our staff. We are really looking at a potentially different future than what we have had up until this point of time, and therefore we have to work as a community in a well-integrated way.”