10:00 AM Tequila Shooters for Safety-Sensitive Workers
People say that the legalization and availability of cannabis is no different than alcohol. Well I’m not sure what ‘people’ have been smoking but in MHO, there’s a big difference. First and foremost, we have a proven test for detecting alcohol impairment where no such test yet exists for cannabis.
It’s not uncommon (at all) for me to witness safety-sensitive workers smoking weed in packs in the park during their work breaks. How do I know they’re safety-sensitive workers? Because unless they‘re dressing up as Traffic Control Flaggers for Halloween, their safety vests and hard hats give them away.
Test me! Oh wait.. you can't!
Here’s the thing. Employees in safety sensitive positions would never have considered sharing tequila shooters during a 10:00 AM break. But with the legalization of cannabis, it seems to have become acceptable to openly and fearlessly smoke a joint in public. Why? Because we know how alcohol / drinking in the workplace affects workerplace safety and we have a definite test to say yes you’re impaired right now, or no you’re not. There’s no fool-proof way to test for cannabis impairment.
Yes, we know. We’re expecting the emails from readers proclaiming that you can’t compare a shooter to a joint because alcohol causes a higher level or certainly a "different kind" of impairment. My personal observation is that this simply isn't true and everyone responds differently to both cannabis and alcohol. It completely depends on the varying levels of tolerance for either drug.
The New Smoke Break
My concern with my frequent toke-on-the-bench observations is how familiar and comfortable these packs of safety workers seem to have become with lighting up a fatty. There’s clearly not a lot of fear of reprisal or consequences and the group activity plays out like a harmless smoke break. The irony is that the cigarette seems to have beaten out the doobie as the leading social villain. We can go on and on about the harmful effects of cigarettes but bottom line, they don’t cause impairment and they don’t immediately put the public in danger.
The impairment challenge doesn’t stop with saftey workers in uniforms. What about the folks in suits, Chinos, or Balenciaga sneakers on their way to perform heart surgery or air traffic control work. Or HR!
Bottom Line
Cannabis in the workplace, especially in the safety-sensitive workplace, has not received the attention or urgency it deserves.
If employers aren’t able to enforce a drug-free workplace due to testing limitations, it’s probably safe for me to conclude that legalization of cannabis came about a tad too soon and danger to the public may be on the rise.
Sarah Visca is the Operations Manager at ConnectsUs HR, a company that provides tools & resources to quickly set up a Human Resources department.
You can contact her here.
