Drug and Alcohol Impairment Awareness

Why it matters

Impairment on a job site is not a private matter, because the person working impaired is holding tools and loads that reach everyone around them. It is not just illegal substances: last night’s drinking, new prescription painkillers, and unfamiliar allergy meds all slow reactions and cloud judgment. This talk is not about judging anyone; it is about one rule: nobody works impaired here, and struggling people get help, not cover.

Hazards

• ⚠ Slowed reflexes and bad depth perception around equipment and edges
• ⚠ Hangover impairment on early shifts after late nights
• ⚠ Prescription opioids and new medications affecting alertness
• ⚠ Covering for an impaired coworker who then hurts someone
• ⚠ Withdrawal shakes and distraction mid-task
• ⚠ Impaired driving of company vehicles between sites

Controls and safe practices

• ✓ Fit for duty means sober AND rested: no alcohol, no impairing substances, and honest self-checks after rough nights.
• ✓ Starting a new medication? Ask the pharmacist about equipment and heights, and tell the foreman if it may affect you. Reassignment is not punishment.
• ✓ See something, say something: slurred speech, unsteady balance, or the smell means a private word with the foreman, immediately.
• ✓ Never cover: the loyal move is getting your buddy off the tools before the incident, not after.
• ✓ Know the company policy and the assistance options; treatment paths beat termination when people come forward.
• ✓ Company vehicles: zero impaired driving, zero exceptions.
• ✓ Foreman handles it privately and respectfully; the crew handles it by speaking up.

Crew discussion questions

1. What does our company policy actually say, and where is the help line?
2. Which tasks here would be catastrophic with slowed reactions?
3. How would you want a friend to handle it if it were you?
4. What medications are crew members quietly working through right now?

Applicable OSHA standards

29 CFR 1926.20

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