Ensure You're Able to Provide Your Employees with Their Right to Know

Safety means keeping yourself and others free from harm or danger. Hazards are threats to your safety – they can cause harm or injury. As cannabis has varying effects on the brain and body which can impact work performance, we must make efforts to identify and address the workplace safety hazards resulting from this imminent legalization.

Identifying and addressing hazards is made up of two key aspects – physical safety and mental health. Both of these are key elements for ensuring health and safety in the workplace. Individuals under the influence of cannabis can create hazardous situations, even when performing routine tasks and assignments. Recognizing signs of potential impairment and the ways in which cannabis use can influence behaviour is key to understanding how to maintain a safety and healthy workplace.

Cannabis use can impact:

• Coordination
• Problem-solving ability
• Reaction time
• Alertness
• Learning ability
• Awareness
• Memory
• Decision-making ability
• Concentration
• Spatial awareness

Cannabis use can also distort perception, and cause confusion and fatigue. It can affect the ability to recognize and properly interpret human emotion, and communicate effectively. Cannabis use can also intensify both positive and negative mood states, causing erratic and uncharacteristic behaviour. This can potentially lead to anxiety, stress, and intense fear and panic.

Assessment of impairment is difficult. Just ask any police officer who has had to rely on roadside evaluation to protect public safety.

All of these factors contribute to potential safety hazards in the workplace. What if someone you work with was impaired by any, some or all of these factors? Would you want them to:

• Operate machinery?
• Perform First-Aid?
• Handle chemicals?
• Manage an emergency?
• Maintain equipment?
• Inspect your workplace?

While reliable methods for the identification of impairment are still being studied, we must all exploit the resources at our disposal to ensure our due diligence in the meantime.

To find out more in relation to this topic, and the steps you can take to provide your workforce with their Right to Know and ensure due diligence, please click here: www.worksafestaysafe.com.