Prescription Drugs and Impairment

Catherine

We have a number of employees whose jobs require them to perform very physical tasks on occasion. Many of these people also operate company vehicles and equipment. It has come to our attention over the last few weeks that a number of our employees are taking various painkillers while on duty. I believe Lortab or hydrocodone is probably the most common.

Our drug policy prohibits the use of illegal drugs, including prescription drugs that the employee does not have a prescription for. We are increasingly concerned, however, about the impairment caused by large doses of prescribed pain killers. Supervisors are noticing that their employees seem impaired. The doctor who treats such an employee, however, has released the employee to come back to work; some argue that this means that in the doctor's opinion, the employee can operate just fine on that level of painkillers.

Our drug policy applies only to those employees who our vehicles or equipment. We are considering modifying it to require those same employees to report to their supervisor when they are taking medications with indications not to operate machinery (the definition will be much lengthier, of course). That doesn't necessarily answer the question of impairment, though.

Has anyone dealt with the issue of monitoring the use of painkillers? Any standards or methods for assessing impairment?

System

I think I would approach this as a matter of fitness for duty and a safety risk. Someone who looks impaired could be sleepy, drunk, high, sick, or on prescription medicine. Any of them could be dangerous in your workplace. I think supervisors have a duty to talk to someone who looks impaired and to make sure he's fit to drive or operate machinery. In some cases, you could require a doctor's clearance.

I'd approach the written policy the same way. Give employees the duty to tell you if anything -- including prescriptions -- may impair their ability to work safely. But don't require them to tell you every prescription they take.

I don't know the exact legalities about all this. You probably should run your policy by a lawyer.
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/findanattorney.shtml[/url]

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

Rexxies

I just spent 3.5 years in a mfg environment and institututed a very strict drug & alcohol policy. However, the other thing we put in place was a strict return to work policy--if someone was off work for any medical problem, work-related or otherwise, they had to be cleared by our doctors, not just their own. Then I had our doctors and nurses come over to go thru our facility so they understood the hazards involved, of which there were many. Let's face it--if you go to your own doctor & say...'gee whiz--gotta go back to work--no my work isn't difficult or hazardous', the doctor is going to believe their patient. Therefore you as the employer have no control--the individual has been released w/o restrictions. Your responsibility is to protect your employees and the company--if you don't have your own physician group or return to work policy, I'd look into putting one together SAP.

Secondly, ck w/the employee's doctor. It sounds like you have documentation about their fitness for duty, so check it out. Maybe the employee wasn't quite upfront w/the doctor. Also, if they are on Hydrocodone, that's a narcotic. And I'd bet my last dollar the bottle says do not operate heavy machinery or drive. You can stop letting them do it right there. You also need the cooperation of your supervisors--it's their responsibility to monitor their employees--if they believe they are not fit to work, they should be cked out (by your doctor) or sent home.

Also, do what James says--contact your attorney--never hurts to have all the pieces in place.

Good luck!

Rockie

I work in healthcare and our policy mandates that our employees disclose to supervisor if they are on prescription drugs or even over the counter medications which may cause impairment. The drugs you mentioned would certainly cause impairment and should not be used by anyone who is operating machinery or needs all their faculties about them. I would be very surprised is there was not a sticker on the prescription bottle advising patient of this condition.

Doctors will routinely issue "fitness for duty" notices to get an employee back to work and may not have a clue as to what type of drugs they are taking. They may be getting these drugs from another physician - so take these notices with a grain of salt.