Ben Powell, chair of the Chartered Institute of Building’s health, safety and wellbeing advisory panel, on why having a policy on drugs and alcohol is key for your company and its people
Have you ever considered what you would do if a colleague showed up for work under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
Many of us might think we know what we would do but in reality, faced with potential confrontation or the prospect of getting that person into trouble, I think for most people the decision wouldn’t be so straightforward. It’s a situation I’ve faced personally, and I have on more than one occasion asked people to leave site.
Construction operations can be high risk, and impaired judgment could cause accidents and incidents. Just like driving your car, reaction times and sound cognitive performance are key to site safety.
Even for managers, judging the right course of action can be difficult. This can be harder still if the company doesn’t have a policy or guidelines that set out a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol. There’s clearly a duty of care in these situations, not only when it comes to the safety of everyone in that workplace but also the individual involved, who may be struggling with addiction.
During my time as chair of CIOB’s health, safety and wellbeing advisory panel, the issue of drugs and alcohol is one we’ve discussed at great length. We reviewed sample policies from several organisations, which varied greatly, and found that many don’t have any such policy at all.
This led us to develop a free-to-use template policy for companies to use, especially in cases where there is no in-house HR expertise.
The template policy sets out clear definitions of alcohol and drugs, expectations on employees and managers, how testing for drugs and alcohol can be managed, and consequences should anyone not comply with the policy. We worked with K2 Associates as a SEQUOHS-accredited occupational services provider for an expert second opinion, before publishing the template on 6 October 2026.
Testing on site
One matter that I’ve been asked about a lot is testing and whether construction companies should regularly test their employees for alcohol and/or drugs. My first piece of advice is to remember what you are testing for. Testing is a way of upholding your safety standards and ensuring people are fit for work. It is not there to invade privacy or to “clean up the industry” as I once heard it described.
When it comes to how to test and how often to do it, this is best decided by a company, based on their core activities and the level of assessed risk. There are many testing methods and while results for most are instant, they are only an indicator, and a non-negative sample must be sent for further lab analysis to confirm with 100% accuracy.
Testing can be delivered by internal staff after some basic and relatively cheap training and instant testing pots are available for a few pounds each, so I do feel it is possible for smaller organisations to have testing plans in place.
Duty of care
The next question always relates to what happens if someone returns a non-negative test or has arrived for work clearly under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and this is where my previous point about a duty of care comes in.
First and foremost, speak to them and ask them to go home, keeping in mind if someone is heavily intoxicated, you may need to arrange transport. It’s important you then follow up later and ask how they are.
While some form of disciplinary action will almost always be required, I also feel that most people wouldn’t knowingly go to work intoxicated on a whim. What I have experienced in 15 years in this industry is, more often than not, people struggling and turning to drugs and alcohol do so because their personal life has been negatively affected by situations like bereavement, divorce or financial hardship. These people need support, not telling off, and for me, this is the priority.
Addiction or self-medicating is, in my experience, the most common reason stated when a non-negative drug or alcohol sample is given. This is why the CIOB template policy recommends taking a supportive approach.
Someone losing their job should be a last resort and for employees with longer-term struggles, options such as finding them another less safety-critical role can be explored while signposting them towards counselling and supporting such treatment through flexible working wherever possible can often help them to unpack other issues that may be contributing to the need to self-medicate and hopefully overcome them.
Support is not one-size-fits-all
While having a policy in place on drugs and alcohol is highly recommended, that will only go so far when it comes to exactly how you support employees struggling with drug or alcohol use. There will never be a one-size-fits-all solution, as everyone is different, so a degree of discretion and professional judgement will often be needed alongside the policy.
In an industry fraught with risk, it is vital workers are of sound mind and not impaired by alcohol or drugs when in workplaces where reaction times and unclouded judgement are vital to everyone’s safety. It’s on all of us to develop that culture so everyone feels safe and supported.
CIOB’s template drugs and alcohol policy can be downloaded here.
