implementation plan

The key elements of an implementation plan are:

• an awareness programme for all staff about the scope of the policy and the details of the arrangements, including the starting date and the time it will take to fully implement the policy;
• a training programme for managers and supervisors on recognising the signs of drugs and/or alcohol misuse;
• the action to be taken if any employee shows signs of such misuse or, indeed, if an employee declares that he/she has a problem;
• further assurances about confidentiality, especially if an employee admits to having a problem; and
• full details on when, why and how testing for drugs and alcohol will be conducted including sample collection, chain of custody, reporting of results, whether testing will be at pre-employment/pre-placement, ‘for cause’ and/or random testing.

This could be aided by establishing dialogue with the laboratory undertaking testing, if testing is part of the policy (the lab may also help with training of all parties).