Look around your workplace. Up to five percent of your workers may be working under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. Some may have taken prescription medications and not even be aware that they're impaired and thus a potential risk to themselves and others. Others know exactly what they're doing and are going to keep doing it until they get caught.

Last week, we looked at some of the techniques police officers are trained to use when they suspect drivers to be impaired by alcohol and drugs. Today let's look at how you and your supervisors can employ some of these methods to determine if employees you suspect are impaired actually are.

Sharing Police Techniques with Supervisors

Some police officers are certified drug-recognition experts (DREs) who have hundreds of hours of specialized training in determining not only whether a person is driving under the influence, but also what drugs they're using.

A version of this training is being applied to workplaces across North America to help supervisors sniff out workers who are abusing alcohol or drugs on the job. A supervisor can acquire basic skills in recognizing subtle signs of impairment after just eight hours of training.

"The training is designed to empower supervisors by giving them factual information and providing them with some skills to identify and then confront suspected alcohol and drug-impaired workers," says former LAPD sergeant and drug recognition expert Thomas Page.

Empowering Supervisors to Act

But Page cautions that training is useless if supervisors aren't prepared to use it when they have suspicions. For example, suppose a supervisor notices that a worker is dragging his butt during the shift. But, then, after a bathroom break, that same worker returns to his post a changed man. In fact, he seems too perky. To the trained eye, this sudden transformation would raise suspicion of drug use. But having a suspicion and being able to act on it are two different things.

"Supervisors need to trust their judgments (and act on them)," explains Page. It's perfectly acceptable, Page adds, for a supervisor to walk up to a worker and say, "Are you okay? Your eyes look a little bloodshot."

The worker might say, "Actually, I'm not. I've had this cold all week and I was up with our five-year-old most of the night. He's sick too."

In the absence of other symptoms, such as word slurring or balance problems, that explanation well might end the matter. But then again, it might not.

Teach Supervisors to Watch for Nystagmus

The eyes are said to be the windows to the soul. A supervisor who has been trained what to look for will become adept at identifying workers who are buzzed at the buzz saw or pickled at the punch press.

Last week, I described a police officer's use of a pen to track a suspected impaired driver's eye movements. The technique is used to spot nystagmus - an involuntary jerking of the eyeballs caused by ingesting alcohol and drugs.

The same pen test obviously isn't suitable in a work setting. But with the help of a second trained supervisor, supervisors can adapt the technique for the workplace. The way it works: The two supervisors approach the worker and ask him a legitimate question or two that won't arouse that person's suspicion. Each supervisor should stand on one side of the worker. When the first supervisor asks a question, the worker's eyes will turn toward that person.

The second trained supervisor can watch for signs of impairment in the eyes. These include problems with eye tracking or focusing, bloodshot appearance, tearing, pupils that are enlarged when they shouldn't be and nystagmus.

Test Ability to Multitask

You can also adapt another tactic that police officers use in assessing drivers - sobriety to determine workers' fitness for duty. It involves testing the worker's ability to multitask. To employ it, you'd ask the worker to do something and then, while she's doing it, ask her a question.

Page says a sober person can manage the task and answer an unrelated question at the same time. But an impaired worker will likely stop performing the task to answer the question. She might even forget to complete the task altogether without a reminder.

Conclusion

"Rarely would you take action on one specific sign or symptom, unless you catch someone in the act of smoking a joint, drinking or injecting something," says Page. But you do need to do something if you suspect a worker of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs. We'll look at what that response should be next week.

OSHA'S NEW PPE RULE

When Is it Effective?

By Catherine Jones

A SafetyXChange member asks:

It is my understanding the final rule goes into effect on May 15, 2008, six months from the November 14 announcement. How do you come up with the February 13, 2008 effective date?

We put the question to Barry Weissman, presenter of the upcoming audio conference. His response:

1910.132(h)(7) states:

(7) This paragraph (h) shall become effective on February 13, 2008. Employers must implement the PPE payment requirements no later than May 15, 2008.

If you have any questions about this new rule, sign up now for Barry's presentation on February 5, 2008.

SAFETYXCHANGE SUPER BOWL PREVIEW

Patriots

By Glenn Demby

The Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. In a better world, all 56 of the brave men who put their signature to that most important document in U.S. history would be household names. A few of them are men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. But, regrettably, the names of most of the signers are familiar only to historians.

To right the injustice, here's a quick sketch of each of the men who pledged "our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor" to the cause of American independence:

CONNECTICUT

Samuel Huntington: Lawyer who became Governor of Connecticut.

Roger Sherman: Surveyor and lawyer, later elected to U.S. Senate.

William Williams: Merchant who helped ratify the U.S. Constitution and became a judge.

Oliver Wolcott: General and military expert who served in U.S. Congress.

DELAWARE

Thomas McKean: Hounded by the British who stole all his property. Served as Congressman without pay.

Caesar Rodney: Held a number of important public posts including Sheriff. Elected to U.S. Congress.

George Read: Lawyer who became Governor of Delaware after British captured the previous Governor.

GEORGIA

Button Gwinnett: Trader. Killed in a duel by a political rival.

Lyman Hall: Doctor who had to flee from the British. Became Governor of Georgia.

George Walton: Carpenter, lawyer and later Governor.

MARYLAND

Charles Carroll: Only Catholic to sign the Declaration. Elected to U.S. Senate.

Samuel Chase: Lawyer. Became Justice of U.S. Supreme Court. Impeached for his political positions - he was a federalist - but was acquitted.

William Paca: Lawyer who became Chief Justice of the State of Maryland and a federal judge.

Thomas Stone: Planter who would help draft the Articles of Confederation, the precursor to the U.S. Constitution.

MASSACHUSETTS

John Adams: Lawyer elected second President of the U.S.

Samuel Adams: Cousin of John. Publisher and rabble rouser who later served as Governor of Massachusetts. And, yes, he was a brewer.

Elbridge Gerry: (pronounced with a hard "G", as in "grain"). Governor and fifth Vice President of the U.S. Refused to sign the U.S. Constitution because it had no bill of rights. Best known for "gerrymandering," that is, drawing electoral districts to favor the party in power. One of Gerry's districts resembled a salamander and political writers called it a "gerrymander."

John Hancock: He of the famous signature. President of the Second Continental Congress and first Governor of Massachusetts.

Robert Treat Paine: Lawyer who was Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a Justice of the State Supreme Court.

NEW JERSEY

Abraham Clark: His two sons were captured by the British and brutally treated. British offered to free them if Clark renounced the revolution and proclaimed his support for the King. Clark said no.

John Hart: Fled the British and risked his life to return home to visit his dying wife. Hessians rode after him but he escaped into the woods. The British burned his home even as his wife lay on her deathbed. By the time Hart made it home, she was dead. Died a broken man in 1779.

Francis Hopkinson: Lawyer who later helped design the American flag.

Richard Stockton: Judge who was captured by the British, thrown into prison and deliberately starved. His estate was looted and he died before the end of the war. His family was forced to live off charity.

John Witherspoon: President of the College of New Jersey, later renamed Princeton.

NEW YORK

William Floyd: Escaped the British by fleeing across Long Island Sound to Connecticut. British burned his home to the ground.

Francis Lewis: Estate was burned and his wife was captured and mistreated.

Philip Livingston: Merchant who was instrumental in financing the war. Estate burned by British.

Lewis Morris: Landowner who later voted to ratify U.S. Constitution.

NORTH CAROLINA

Joseph Hewes: Quaker merchant who would become the first Secretary of the Navy.

William Hooper: Lawyer who served one year on the federal bench before dying in 1790.

John Penn: Lawyer and signer of the Articles of Confederation.

PENNSYLVANIA

George Clymer: Merchant who served as Treasurer of the Continental Congress.

Benjamin Franklin: The oldest and, arguably most famous signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Robert Morris: Merchant known as "financier of the Revolution" who lost most of his personal fortune in the war. Signed the Declaration, Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution.

John Morton: If you've seen the show 1776, he was the delegate who showed up late and cast his vote in favor of independence.

George Ross: Lawyer who was later appointed to the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty.

Benjamin Rush: Doctor who may be most famous for bringing about a personal reconciliation of the old political enemies John Adams and Thomas Jefferson at the end of their lives.

James Smith: Lawyer who was re-elected to Continental Congress but was too old to serve. Fire destroyed his personal papers so we don't know much about his work.

George Taylor: Came to the U.S. from Ireland as an indentured servant. Died in 1777.

James Wilson: Lawyer who helped draft the U.S. Constitution and was one of the original six Justices appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Washington.

RHODE ISLAND

William Ellery: Merchant and lawyer who served on the Rhode Island Supreme Court and was an ardent opponent of slavery.

Stephen Hopkins: Merchant and surveyor who had been colonial Governor of Rhode Island. Died in 1779.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Thomas Heyward, Jr.: Lawyer taken prisoner by British during siege of Charleston. Later became a judge.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.: Lawyer who fell ill during the war. Doctors ordered him to go to the West Indies to seek a cure. But he never made it. His ship sank and he and his wife were lost at sea.

Arthur Middleton: Captured by the British during the Charleston siege. Freed during prisoner exchange at end of the war.

Edward Rutledge: Captured with Heyward and Middleton at Charleston.

VIRGINIA

Carter Braxton: Planter and trader who was wiped out during the war after the British sunk his ships. Died in poverty in 1797.

Benjamin Harrison: Farmer later elected Speaker of the House of Representatives of Virginia House of Representatives and Governor. Son, William Henry, elected ninth president of the U.S. but died after only a month in office.

Thomas Jefferson: Author of the Declaration of Independence. Served as Ambassador to France, first U.S. Secretary of State, Vice President and third President of the U.S. Founded University of Virginia.

Francis Lightfoot Lee: Radical patriot and early champion of independence who came from the famous Lee family of Virginia.

Richard Henry Lee: Was tabbed to write the Declaration but fell ill and Jefferson took over the job. Later became president of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation.

Thomas Nelson, Jr.: Served as general at Yorktown, his hometown. The British turned his home into their HQ. Out of respect, continental gunners refused to fire on the house. Nelson would have none of it and personally fired the first shot that leveled his house. The Continental Congress never reimbursed Nelson for his sacrifice.

George Wythe: Law professor whose most famous pupil was Thomas Jefferson. Designed the state seal which includes the motto "sic semper tyrannis" (essentially, tyrants always get theirs in the end). Slaveholder who freed his slaves and became an abolitionist

The greatest team in U.S. history: the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top