This book is an authoritative and comprehensive text on responding to alcohol and other drug-related harm in Australian workplaces.
While some employers and labour organisations have developed responses to drug-related problems, the majority of workplaces in Australia, and elsewhere, do not have formal policies and constructive responses. Many of the responses that have been adopted are contentious. Some are ill-informed and ill-advised. Until now, though, little quality information has been available to inform interested parties and guide effective responses.
This book will introduce practitioners, including employer and employee groups, occupational health and safety staff, organisational psychologists and those with drug expertise, to the range of issues that need to be considered when decisions are made about whether to, and how best to, respond to drug-related problems in Australian workplaces.
The book is divided into five sections. The first explores the nature and scope of drug-related harm in workplaces. The second focuses on the legal and policy framework for responding to drug problems, the responsibilities and rights of employers and employees. The various interventions that can be implemented in the workplace are reviewed in the third section, with the costs and potential benefits of each outlined. In the fourth section, lessons from other domains – the results of research into how best to ensure and enhance health and safety in the workplace, and how to successfully implement organisational change – are reviewed. A final section draws together some practical implications of the work reviewed in the book, and case examples illustrate approaches adopted in a range of workplace settings.
Practitioners who seek to properly inform decision-making and action in this contentious domain will find this book valuable. |
