Concrete company worries about working with increased pot users

By Gillian Slade


Dean Brown, project manager at Mudrack Concrete Ltd., expresses concerns about the ramifications for the construction industry of legalizing marijuana.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE

Legalizing marijuana may result in more impaired workers on the job, says a local concrete contractor.

“We have enough dealing with present drugs and alcohol. We don’t need marijuana too,” said Dean Brown, project manager, Mudrack Concrete Ltd.

The workplace policy at Mudrack is “show up fit for work”, said Brown. Those on prescription drugs must tell their foreman and if necessary are put on other duties for the duration of the prescription.

Employees have a standard rule of thumb about how many hours after drinking alcohol they are fit for work, said Brown. Alcohol is metabolized fairly quickly, 12 to 24 hours, compared to marijuana that stays in your system three to 90 days.

While the efforts of employers to minimize the hazards on their work sites is applauded, WCB felt comment on the situation was a question more applicable for Occupational Health and Safety.

“We don’t have a comment on the legislation itself as it’s unlikely there would be any impact on how we adjudicate claims,” said a spokesperson for WCB.

There is considerable risk for a contractor who has a worker on site that is impaired, said Brown.
“How do you police marijuana use?” said Brown.

At the moment there is no breathalyzer to detect marijuana. It would be a judgment call that is one person’s perception versus another’s.

OH&S is following decisions on marijuana by the federal government closely, a spokesperson said. Employers are however required to determine hazzards on the worksite, identify them, and take all appropriate precautions.

Brown points to numerous websites listing the effects of consuming marijuana including deficient short-term memory, reduced motivation, impaired concentration and paranoia.

“Why do we need to introduce this into society?” said Brown expressing concern that it is a slippery slope to legalizing more illicit drugs.

Alberta Health neither endorses nor discourages the use of medical marijuana and it is Health Canada that makes decisions about and regulates medical marijuana usage, said a spokesperson for Health Minister Sarah Hoffman.

Mudrack has a policy of three strikes and you’re out. You’re given a verbal warning, the second time a written warning and if it happens a third time the employee is terminated. The employer is also required to offer assistance to someone wanting to detox, said Brown.

Colorado has already legalized the use of marijuana. Brown wonders why the Canadian federal government did not look into that program before making a decision to do the same in Canada.

According to one media report the number of traffic deaths in Colorado related to marijuana increased 41 per cent in 2013/14 compared to the previous three years when marijuana was not legal there.