Need advice quick!

LindaS

I just finished a meeting with the company president regarding a conversation he had last evening with the wife of one of our employees regarding a supposed theft of narcotics from another employee's toolbox. This conversation brought up issues in addition to the theft so I'm hoping for some advice. Here's some background...

We have an employee who has been treated for a non-work related back injury since last July. He has been on work restrictions since approx. August which we have been able to accomodate. Although he had repeatedly discussed pain medication he has been prescribed, at no point did he mention narcotics and in fact during a recent conversation when he was specifically asked by me about it, his response was that the medication is NOT narcotic.

What apparently transpired in this incident was that this EE was storing some medication in another EE's toolbox and at some point yesterday it was discovered that the medication is missing from the toolbox. The medication that was taken was Oxycodin (sp?) which, as far as I'm aware, is a narcotic. This brings up several issues other than the obvious of who took the pills.

We are a manufacturing facility and 99.9% of the jobs require employees to continuously operate machinery. While we haven't observed this EE's behavior being erratic, we have some serious concerns regarding his ability to operate machinery while on this medication. According to him his physician knows what his job is and feels he is okay to perform his work. Our practice has always been that employees on narcotics are NOT allowed to operate machinery and if there isn't other work available, they are placed on STD until they are able to work.

What liability are we, as the employer, facing if we allow him to work knowing he is taking this medication? Do we have a right, since this is a non-work related injury, to require him to furnish certification regarding his ability to work?

This EE is going to be speaking with the president this morning so any advice would be helpful.

Crout

Did you not specifically ask him if he was taking a narcotic? Did he not say "no?" So I guess he's not taking a narcotic. Problem solved, unless you're willing to delve into hearsay, and unless he is demonstrating through observable behavior that he is impaired in some way.

Leslie

Oxycontin is an opiate, a controlled substance. I take it you don't have a random, general or reasonable suspicion drug/alcoholo testing program to fall back on.

Who reported the narcotics missing? If it wasn't the employee who has the script, but told you he wasn't taking anything narcotic, Crout is right. However, you could ensure that the doctor has the correct information about the employees's job description so he can determine whether the medication he has him on would impact his ability to do it.

Don D

You stated the name of the medication and I suppose you're talking about either Oxycodone or Oxycontin, both narcotic medications. I think both are codeine based. So, I assume HE is the one who has now identified what the drug was/is. You are dealing with an employee who (1) lied to you about the medication and (2) is taking prescribed narcotics that clearly carry warnings about driving and the operation of equipment and machinery. I have been on both with surgery and either can loop you to a point where you might stick a finger in something and draw back a nub.

First things first. I would first call him in and clear up the matter of the lie. Enforce your discipline policy if he did lie to you. Then I would ask him to produce a prescription or give you in writing the name of the medication. Then I would ask a pharmacist for the counseling advice sheet that accompanies that medication. Any pharmacist will provide it. I would also suspend him from work until his physician has reviewed a job description provided by you and he has returned to you with a full release to perform his job while taking this medication.

No physician should clear a patient to operate dangerous machinery in a manufacturing environment while taking narcotic medication.

I'm also wondering what you thought he was taking in the first place. If not analgesics (aspirin, etc) he could only have been taking muscle relaxers or narcotics if he has serious back pain, either of which will render him a danger to himself while on the machine.

Lastly, I would not even bother with trying to run down who might have taken the medication out of a toolbox utilized by another. That's an endless rathole. 70% of your workforce will steal pain medication if they are aware of it's whereabouts.

Dasher

The advice you have above is excellent. Just wanted to caution you that some people consider a drug prescribed by a physician okay (as opposed to illegally obtained narcotics). He may have thought he was not lying when he responded to your question.

I would get his physician to review his job description and clear his fitness for duty (in writing) using the medication he prescribed.