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ASGA tackles marijuana in the workplace

January 11, 2018  By  Andrew Snook


Kent Santo discusses marijuana in the workplace during ASGA’s 2018 AGM in Enoch, Alta.

January 11, 2018 – The Alberta Sand & Gravel Association (ASGA) offered its members an update on its health and safety related initiatives during its 2018 annual general meeting at the Marriott Edmonton, River Cree Resort in Enoch, Alta.

ASGA’s Occupational Healthy & Safety Committee chair Kent Santo discussed some of the committee’s recent activities with ASGA members, including the upcoming legalization of marijuana on July 1, and how it could affect the workplace.

Santo said that companies should be treating marijuana the same way they deal with alcohol in the workplace, adding that impaired driving is a complex issue that requires coordinated and multi-disciplinary action across law enforcement, transportation and health agencies.

“It’s probably going to a take a couple of years before the courts decide what the legal limit is going to be [in the workplace],” Santo told the crowd.

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He said that any employees who have a prescription for medical marijuana should be treated no differently than any other employee taking prescription medication, adding that all companies should have a fit to work policy that refers to employees’ abilities to safely undertake the physical and physiological demands of their jobs. Santo used the example of an employee using a medication such as Tylenol 3 or Sudafed and getting behind the wheel of heavy equipment as an example of current impaired driving that would be unacceptable in the workplace, and added that medical marijuana should be treated in a similar fashion.

Santo said ASGA’s Occupational Healthy & Safety Committee would continue working with the province and other associations to make sure ASGA members get the information they need to deal with the issue of marijuana in the workplace.


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