How I Use the Drugs and Alcohol Template with Customers in Pilla
Drugs and alcohol is one of those policies that sits in a folder until something goes wrong. I've reviewed health and safety management systems in hundreds of businesses, and the pattern is familiar: the policy exists, it says the right things, but nobody has read it in two years. Then someone turns up to a shift still drunk from the night before, a manager doesn't know what to do, and the whole thing unravels in about fifteen minutes.
The real problem is rarely the document. It's the gap between what's written and what actually happens when a supervisor suspects someone is impaired and has no clear protocol to follow. That's what this article covers. I'll walk you through what your drugs and alcohol policy needs to include, give you a ready-made template you can edit for your own operation, and explain the parts that matter most when an HSE inspector asks how you manage substance abuse risk.
Key Takeaways
- What is a drugs and alcohol policy in health and safety? A drugs and alcohol policy sets out how you prevent substance abuse, what happens when someone reports to work impaired, the rules around prescription medication, and how you support employees who admit to a problem. It covers alcohol, illegal drugs, solvents, and any substance that affects someone's ability to work safely
- Why do you need a drugs and alcohol policy? The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places a duty on employers to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of employees so far as is reasonably practicable. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 makes it an offence to allow premises to be used for drug-related activities. An HSE inspector will want to see that you've assessed the risk and have a clear policy in place
- How do you set it up in Pilla? Use the knowledge hub template below, edit it to match your operation, and share it with your team through the app so everyone has access and you can track who's read it
- How do you automate the follow-up? Set up Poppi to chase staff who haven't acknowledged the policy and flag when it's due for review
Article Content
Understanding What's Required of You
Substance abuse covers alcohol, illegal drugs, solvents, and prescription medication that affects someone's ability to work safely. As an employer, you have a legal duty to manage this risk. It's not optional, and it's not something you can deal with after the fact.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires you to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of your employees so far as is reasonably practicable. That includes managing the risk of impaired workers. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 goes further: it's a criminal offence to knowingly allow your premises to be used for producing, supplying, or using controlled substances. If you don't have a policy and someone is using drugs on site, you're exposed.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require you to assess all significant risks to health and safety, and substance abuse is one of them. You need to identify the risk, put controls in place, and make sure your employees know what the rules are and what happens if they break them.
An HSE inspector will want to see three things. First, that you've identified substance abuse as a risk and included it in your risk assessment. Second, that you have a written policy covering prevention, detection, support, and disciplinary action. Third, that your employees have been trained on the policy and know how to raise concerns. I've sat in on inspections where the policy existed but nobody on the floor could describe what it said. That's a problem.
The tricky part is getting the tone right. A drugs and alcohol policy that reads like a threat doesn't work. People hide problems instead of disclosing them. The best policies I've seen balance two things clearly: impairment at work is a disciplinary matter, and employees who come forward with a substance problem will be supported. Both statements need to be credible, and the only way to make them credible is to follow through on both.
Setting It Up as a Knowledge Hub Entry
I've built a drugs and alcohol template in Pilla covering substance abuse prevention, employee consultation, training requirements, protocols for suspected impairment, prescription drug rules, support arrangements, and monitoring. It gives you a structured starting point, but you need to edit it for your business.
In the knowledge hub, create a new entry and tag it with "Health and Safety System". Use the same tag across all of your health and safety policies so they are grouped together and Poppi can track them as a set. Assign the entry to all teams so that everyone in the business can access it.
The template is designed to be edited, not just filed. Read through every section. Where it says something generic, replace it with what actually applies to your operation. If you have specific roles that carry higher risk (forklift drivers, anyone working at height, machine operators), call those out. If you already have an employee assistance programme, reference it by name. The policy needs to reflect your business, not read like a downloaded template.
29. Drugs and Alcohol
Company Name recognises the potential dangers of alcohol, drugs, and solvent abuse, known as substance abuse, to both the individual and the business. Company Name aim to prevent, where possible, alcohol, drug, and solvent abuse amongst employees and to detect at an early-stage employees with problems.
Company Name will manage substance abuse by following these safety arrangements.
Responsible Persons will liaise with employees as part of the development process of our drugs and alcohol policy, so there is a transparent approach and ensure all parties understand the risks to themselves, the business and requirement for a policy to manage this issue.
Develop the policy and implement across the business.
Resources identified as required when developing the policy, will be made available for the successful role out of the policy.
Employees will be provided with training and instruction to generate awareness. Part of this training will be on the wording of the policy and instruction not to report to work impaired by alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription drugs.
The policy will provide senior management with protocols to take in the event an employee is suspected to be affected by either drugs or alcohol i.e., any employee reporting to work impaired by drugs and/or alcohol will be subject to the company disciplinary procedure, which could lead to dismissal.
Where possible, aid employees admitting to a drug or alcohol problem, such as leave of absence from work if required for treatment. There may be circumstances when this offer may not be appropriate, and senior management must assess each case individually.
Monitor and review policy and protocols to measure effectiveness and to continually improve the management of substance abuse within the business and the hospitality industry as a whole.
Note; Prescription drugs are permitted to be taken during working hours only if they have been deemed safe to do so, by a competent doctor and the prescription drugs do not affect the employee's ability to carry out their work safely. Employees must inform supervisors/ managers when taking prescription drugs that may alter their behaviour or physical/mental ability before starting work.
This is a preview of the template. In Pilla, you can edit this to match your business.
What I'd want to see when reviewing this:
The section on protocols for suspected impairment is the most important part of the entire policy. I'd want to see a clear step-by-step process that any manager can follow. Who do they report it to? Do they remove the person from work immediately? How do they document what they've observed? Too many policies say "follow the disciplinary procedure" without spelling out the practical steps a supervisor takes in the first ten minutes. That's the bit that falls apart under pressure.
The prescription drug section matters more than most businesses realise. Employees are legally permitted to take prescription medication during working hours, but only if the drugs have been deemed safe by a competent doctor and don't affect their ability to work safely. The key requirement is disclosure: employees must tell their supervisor before starting work if they're taking anything that could alter their behaviour or physical or mental ability. I'd want to see this stated plainly, with a clear explanation that disclosure leads to reasonable adjustments, not punishment.
Common mistakes I see:
The biggest gap is the support section. Policies state that the company "will aid employees who admit to a drug or alcohol problem" but don't explain what that aid looks like. Does it include leave of absence for treatment? Who makes that decision? The template covers this, but I still see businesses leave it vague. If you say you'll support people, spell out what that means. Otherwise, nobody believes it.
The consultation section is often missing or treated as a tick-box exercise. The template requires that responsible persons liaise with employees as part of the development process. This isn't about sending a survey. It's about involving your team in shaping a policy they'll actually follow. I've worked with businesses where the policy was written by a director who had no idea what the night shift looked like. That policy didn't last a month.
The monitoring and review commitment gets written in and then forgotten. The template includes a requirement to monitor and review the policy and protocols to measure effectiveness. If you're not doing this at least annually, you don't know whether your policy is working. I'd want to see a named person responsible for the review and a date for when it's next due.
Automate the Follow-Up with Poppi
Writing the policy is one thing. Making sure your team has actually read it is another. Poppi can handle the chasing so you don't have to.
If you mark the knowledge hub entry as mandatory, Poppi will track who's read it and who hasn't. You can set up automations to chase staff who are behind, notify managers when someone completes the policy, and get a regular report showing where the gaps are.
Here are three automations I'd set up for any knowledge hub policy:
Tom, you have 2 overdue policies to read and acknowledge
Overdue training reminders
Automatically chase team members who have mandatory policies they haven't read yet. Poppi sends the reminder so you don't have to.
Tom, you have 2 overdue policies to read and acknowledge
Emma has completed a mandatory policy
Video completion alerts
Get notified when a team member finishes reading or watching a policy, so you can track progress without chasing.
Emma has completed a mandatory policy
Training Report: 87% team completion. Tom and Sarah behind on 2 mandatory policies, due 3 days ago.
Training gap analysis
Get a regular AI report showing which team members are behind on mandatory policies and where the gaps are across your team.
Training Report: 87% team completion. Tom and Sarah behind on 2 mandatory policies, due 3 days ago.