I had always wanted to visit Hong Kong, not for any other reason than ticking it off the ‘bucket list’, you know, that list of things to do before you die. So when a business opportunity over there presented itself, I couldn’t really say no.

The story started last year, following an email from the Hong Kong Police. I managed to work my way around, through several emails, to suggesting that it might be better if I came out and talked to them directly which they seemed to accept quite freely. After all, it was for them, free!

I managed to get a business-class flight on Air France via Paris. Having never flown on Air France before, I thought I’d better brush up on my French and I breezed onto the aircraft with a cheery “bonjour,” only to be met with a barrage of French at a speed I couldn’t understand. I just said ‘oui’ in the hope that it was the right answer.

We left London on a bright clear evening. As we traveled south over the white cliffs of Dover, the setting sun lit up the English channel, producing a silver sheen to the water which looked like a crumpled sheet of silver foil beneath us. Sitting in a window seat, I was party to views 20,000 feet beneath me. Ships in the Channel looked like links in a chain, connected by their wash that seemingly went on forever. We flew over the battlefields of both World Wars, where I could see what was left of entrenchments – or was it just my overactive imagination. Whatever the case these views instilled a feeling of positivity for the visit that was ahead of me.

I arrived in Hong Kong in the late afternoon and made my way to the hotel in Wan Chai, in the Central Business District, on Hong Kong island. Having endured thirty five degree heat for nearly two hours in a bus from the airport and, being wetter than an otter’s pocket, I crashed out, shivering in my ice-cold air conditioned room. I had to have a shower to warm up, and then spent some time trying to work out how to switch the air conditioning off. Finally I realised you couldn’t, so I fell onto the bed where I slept, fitfully, for a couple of hours.

The following day dawned bright and hot and I met my new clients at their offices, which were less than 500 metres away. My meetings went well, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I have been out to Hong Kong several times now and every time I visit there is always something new to go and look at. The skyline is a sight to behold at any time of the day or night and my hosts are, to say the least, gracious and hospitable.

In my next blog, we’ll look at how we delivered training to the Hong Kong Police Officers in their environment, including how we overcame the cultural and language difficulties.

Some years ago the company developed an all in one answer to the growing problem of drugs in the workplace, a subject that I have spoken on before. This programme uses the acronym SMAART © (Substance Misuse Awareness And Recognition Training) and I’d like to think that it is the only programme you need to answer the vexed question of what to do about a drug and alcohol policy, or a particularly difficult employee with drug or alcohol issues, but don’t know what to do about it.

SMAART© is split into three parts that can be used altogether as one holistic response to the problem, or broken down into it’s component parts and used in a bespoke fashion to suit your company’s specific situation.

• Business SMAART ©
• Concentrates on the needs to be addressed by management, unaware that they may have a problem
• Business SMAART provides a series of short workplace seminars aimed at senior and middle management providing an overview of the problem – a sort of ‘State of the Nation’ address.
• The seminars will also discuss such issues as how to deal with disruptive employees that may be under the influence, provides the right guidance on written D&A policies from the beginning to the end, including the provision of appropriate counselling and traditional drug and alcohol testing.
• Workplace SMAART©
• The programme concentrates on the subject of workplace impairment and would be delivered to workplace supervisors and managers with a responsibility for personnel
• Workplace SMAART identifies the problems surrounding impairment to work and develops a method of non-invasive Workplace Impairment Testing (WIT©) to identify employees who are unfit to work.
• W.I.T can be developed as an intermediate process before the need to go to the invasive process of saliva, urine, blood or hair testing.
• Observation SMAART©
• The implementation of a drug and alcohol policy will of course require an understanding of what to look for in the first place, so using a recognised and scientific approach to drug recognition techniques, a series of seminars will show the signs and symptoms of drug use and abuse.
• These seminars can be delivered to all employees, or just those managers and staff supervisors that need the appropriate knowledge. If they are trained as W.I.T. Practitioners, then this training in Drug Recognition is included in that training

We like to think that this SMAART programme is a one stop shop with an ability to provide you with all you need to make your company compliant.

So, consider getting SMAART with your company and call or email to arrange a consultation     08450 522 985.

admin@blueknightlearning.com

In a recent conversation, I was reminded of an incident that I attended while still in ‘the job’. If I my memory serves me well, it was the weekend of the Grand Prix at Silverstone. I can’t remember the year, other than the fact that it wasn’t raining for a change.

I was sent to the scene of a road accident with my colleague just outside Silverstone village. This was of course before they built the dual carriageway and before some guy called ‘Bernie’ remarked that the British Grand Prix was nothing more than a village fete!

But I digress, having made our way through the maze of stationary traffic we arrived at what we would call a minor ‘damage only’ collision. Car 1 pulls out of junction, into path of car 2 and a collision occurs, as the report would read. Having spoken to both parties, we required a breath test from both drivers. The driver who caused the collision was fine and provided a negative breath test, but unfortunately the other driver provided a positive breath test. This was about 9 am in the morning and he was twice the legal limit. Needless to say he was taken to the police station where he provided another positive sample, and where he stayed until he was sober.

When he was asked how much he had had to drink he replied to the effect that he had been camping at Silverstone, ready for the GP. His family and friends had a barbeque on the previous night and everyone had been drinking all day and most of the night. He finished drinking around 4am before going to bed. He got up about 7.30/8am to find a store to get some supplies and feeling ‘fine’ he jumped in his car to forage for his bread and milk. The result of his actions meant that he missed the Grand Prix, lost his his driving licence, was given a heavy fine and a 12 month disqualification, and his £200 ticket for the race.

Why am I telling you all this. Well, the moral of this story is if you go out on ‘the razz’ the night before and have a skinfull, just because you feel fine the next morning, does not mean to say that you are fit to drive. Remember that the body disposes of alcohol at a rate of 15% or 1 unit per hour, thats half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine, or if you want to be scientific about it, 10 millilitres of pure alcohol. So the guy that I arrested having been drinking all day and not finishing till 4am, would never be under the limit by 8am. And it would be foolish for anyone to think that they would be capable of operating a motor vehicle safely after that short space of time.

Imagine then that this guy went to work in this state. What would you think? What if he worked in a safety critical organisation, or drove a fork lift truck for example. What would you think? If he ‘barfed’ all over your desk, what would you think? What if you had to increase your workload to cover for him while he sobered up. What would you think?

All I ask you to do is take responsibility for yourself and if you are working or intend to drive the following day think about how much you drink the night before, because the morning after the night before might just be an unexpected nightmare.

No longer is it good enough to take a step back, throw your hands in the air and say “It’s nothing to do with me”.  Well, as an employer it is… And the sooner you realise that the better. To the question “Is it my concern?”, I quote from some Home Office guidance: -

“Yes, drug misuse can be a serious problem not only for the misuser but also for the business where they work and sometimes their co-workers”

Legally, you could be breaking the law if you knowingly allow drug-related activities, and that includes individuals using, at work and do nothing about it.  An employer has a general duty under the Health & Safety at Work Act  ”to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of your employees” Any organisation who’s gross breach of a relevant duty of care leads to the death of an employee at work may also suffer a penalty under the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act.

Whether you believe it or not there is an impact of drug use on cognitive performance at work, which may end up with you having to cope with increased accidents, increased absenteeism and increased stress from employees having to ‘cover’ for the misuser.

I know it’s hard work convincing the ‘stick in the muds’. I know that this post isn’t going to change people’s minds overnight.  And I’m not naïve enough for you not to think that I am talking out of my backside. Believe me I’m not. I have seen the consequences of inaction and inappropriate behaviour by employers towards employees.

I know its hard, but sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do and one day you will have to take a hard look inside that box that you really don’t want to open. Don’t be surprised by what you find.

If you want to know more then book onto my seminar on 28th September – click on the image below:

I am constantly surprised by the attitude of some employers to this issue. Not only does it have an effect on the person who is ‘using’ at work, but also has a knock on effect with their colleagues in many aspects of their employment. For example does the ‘user’ drive one of your vehicles?  What about the danger that your ‘user’ (your employee) puts members of the public in when they’re under the influence and the cost of an investigation into a serious or fatal collision because of their actions, Circa £1.5m.

If you don’t have a policy you need to think seriously about getting one, if you do, when did you last review it?  I wouldn’t like to think about the consequences for you and your company if it all goes horribly dark!

So, all you bloggers out there – convince me?