LIMA — When it comes to drugs in the workplace, organizations and companies want to have a plan in place to create a drug-free, efficient work environment. However, each company may have different approaches to this issue.
The goal of We Care At Work, a drug-free workplace initiative paid for by the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Allen, Auglaize and Hardin Counties, is to create a policy that is specific to each company and can help both the employer and employee. Several organizations using the policy gathered for a reunion Tuesday at the Lima Holiday Inn to share experiences and discuss drug-related workplace concerns.
“If you’re a big manufacturer, you’d have a different scope to your drug-free workplace policy than if you were a five-person non-profit agency,” Mental Health Board Executive Director Michael Schoenhofer said.
While many such policies have a simple, zero-tolerance policy, We Care At Work can include rehabilitative or educational approaches.
“An employee who fails a drug screening can get a fast-track referral to Coleman Professional Services, which has a whole array of education, prevention and treatment programs,” Schoenhofer said. “So you may have somebody who did something dumb who doesn’t need the whole treatment program. Someone else might have an underlying mental illness that they’re self-medicating for. Now you have a bigger treatment issue.”
Almost 20 companies and organizations have adopted this program over the past two years, including the city of Lima and Auglaize County employees. MAC Athletics Inc., a Minster-based athletic facility design company, adopted this policy a year ago, and the results have been very positive.
“I like the one-on-one assistance,” according to human resource and finance manager Sheila Umstead. “No two scenarios are exactly the same. I know that I have a specific problem, I can call and they’ll help me through anything. I would 100 percent recommend it.”
MAC’s sales associates may be in situations where alcohol is served, and this policy can make provisions for that, according to Umstead.
“I wanted to provide something in black and white, saying, ‘Yes, you can have one or two drinks, provided you don’t do A, B or C directly afterwards,’” she said.
