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Safeguarding Your Health and Work Performance

Alcohol and other drugs, including prescription medication, can have a significant impact on an individual's health and their ability to work safely. The risks associated with alcohol and drug use in the workplace include impairment, which can be particularly hazardous for those operating machinery or engaging in tasks requiring intense concentration and responsible decision-making.

Using alcohol and drugs during or outside of work hours can result in various negative consequences, such as workplace injuries, damage to property or equipment, poor health, increased sick leave, reduced productivity, strained workplace relationships, and damage to a business's reputation. Managing these risks requires collaboration between workers and management, and there are tools and resources available to create a healthier and safer work environment.

For workers, it's essential to communicate with managers, supervisors, or health and safety representatives if they suspect impairment due to alcohol or drugs. Workers should refrain from being under the influence of such substances while at work, avoid going to work if still affected, and adhere to the workplace's drug and alcohol or health and safety policy. Reporting any illegal drug activity to the employer is also encouraged.

Businesses, as Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU), have a duty of care to workers and can implement good work design principles to mitigate risks associated with alcohol and other drugs. This involves considering the nature of the work, the physical environment, and the capacities of the workers. Introducing work health, safety, and wellbeing interventions, along with incorporating alcohol and drug management into broader workplace policies, is crucial. Useful resources include the Framework for alcohol and drug management in the workplace, a guide for developing a workplace alcohol and other drugs policy, and the Work health and wellbeing interventions tool.

Four steps to managing the risk of sedentary work

The four-step risk management process below will help you identify the risks of alcohol and drug use and ways to control the risk. You can also use the practical advice in the How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 0.65 MB).

Step 1. Identify the hazard

Use a validated assessment tool such as the Healthy workplace audit tool to gain a better understanding of what you already have in your workplace and where they may be some gaps.

Engage with workers to get their ideas about:

  • work or lifestyle factors that might contribute to harmful use of alcohol or other drugs
  • how being under the influence of alcohol and drugs creates risks in the workplace.

Step 2. Assess the risk

Once you’ve identified the risks, assess how likely they are to happen and what the consequences would be. A risk assessment helps you determine:

  • how severe a risk is
  • if existing control measures are effective
  • what other action you should take to control the risk
  • how urgently you need to act.

You can use this risk assessment template (DOCX, 0.02 MB) to guide you and record your assessments.

The Framework for alcohol and drug management and How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 0.65 MB) have more advice on risk assessments.

Step 3. Control the risk

Controlling the risks of alcohol and other drugs in your workplace can be complex. Using good work design principles outlined in the healthy workplace toolkit is an effective way to plan, implement and evaluate the work health, safety and wellbeing risks associated with alcohol and other drugs.

You should consider if the risk can be eliminated first, if it cannot be eliminated, then consider how the risk can be minimised. See How to manage work health and safety risks code of practice 2021 (PDF, 0.65 MB).

You can also read:

Step 4. Review risk controls

Managing hazards and the associated risks is an ongoing process. You should regularly review your control measures. Work health and safety laws require you to review controls in the following situations:

  • if a control measure isn’t working
  • before a change at the workplace that’s likely to create a new health and safety risk
  • if a new hazard or risk is identified
  • if the results of consultation show a review is necessary
  • if a health and safety representative requests a review.


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