Smoking policies, drugs and alcohol abuse

Manage stress effectively

Putting procedures in place to help employees deal with stress is an important part of responding to problems with smoking, alcohol and drugs. Stress is often closely linked with these problems.

It can be a cause or contributing factor in many instances of substance-abuse. For instance, a person under a lot of stress at work might begin to increase their smoking or their alcohol consumption.

Stress can have a very negative impact on a business' performance and morale. The benefits of managing stress effectively include:

• reduced time off for employees with stress-related illnesses
• minimising stress-related drug and alcohol abuse problems
• improved morale and productivity
• fulfilling your legal responsibility for employee welfare

As with most problems, preventing stress in the first place is much more effective than curing it once it's a problem.

Good management can reduce work-related stress. For instance, setting realistic targets and providing employees with training and opportunities for promotion can contribute to more contented staff.

But even with good management, you can't eliminate stress altogether. It's important that you learn to spot the symptoms and encourage employees to raise any issues that are bothering them.

Remember that stress doesn't just affect employees - watch for the symptoms of stress in yourself too.

You can read about work-related stress on the HSE website. See our guide on how to deal with stress.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Define policies on smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse
• Smoking policies
• Dealing with alcohol abuse
• Dealing with drug abuse
• Manage stress effectively
• Counselling and support
• Checklist: what your smoking, drug and alcohol abuse policies should cover
• Discipline, grievance and dismissal procedures

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