Should I report my suspicions?

[MaryRoze]

I'll preface this by saying I don't like this guy- he's a lazy bastard. I'm trying not to let this cloud my judgement though.

We have a contractor who I suspect is coming to work under the influence. He's frequently late, sometimes looks absolutely terrible, disappears multiple times during the day. I brought this up with his boss and he agreed to give him his notice to leave. So, he's leaving end of September/beginning of October anyway.

During the course of this conversation with his boss, he made just an off-handed comment "I think he's a drinker".

I didn't think anything of it until I heard him wretching/throwing up in the bathroom on Friday. Now I'm adding 2 + 2 and coming up with 5.

We've got a zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy, and this contractor is going to be responsible for a huge high risk operation in a few days time. If something goes wrong / he hasn't planned it properly due to being under the influence, this could end in fatalities.

What do I do?

YABU - he's leaving anyway. double check his plan for the high risk activity and let him get on with it.

YANBU - this is too dangerous to ignore. report.

He is on the phone to his GP regularly and goes out for "tests" and "appointments" on a weekly basis.

Like I said, I'm adding 2 + 2 and coming up with 5. It might not have anything to do with drinking.

The man is about to lose his job, and has 3 kids. I don't want to make his life any harder than it already is.

You could say something like “I’m sorry but someone has raised a suspicion that you may have been drinking whilst working with us, obviously you understand I need to take this seriously even if it’s not true”.

Just say it’s been flagged and you’d be professionally negligent not to act accordingly.

Ffs
he might have crohns kr ulcerative colitis
just picking two obvious ones
He could be diabetic
fuck sake
I hope my relative never works somewhere as fucking incompetent as this
if any of this is even real

So this is just your gossipy little brain
Fucking hell

Why would you being wrong jeopardise his future?

You report, it's investigated, if you're wrong, he's leaving anyway (and doesn't sound like someone you'd re-employ) sonit goes no further.

Also, if there's no clear process for how to report in these sort of circumstances (and the fact his boss hasn't reported his suspicion), then your company doesn't have a zero tolerance policy for drugs/alcohol. They just pay lip service to doing so.

Healthy and safety and life safety come way above feeling bad for this guy. You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgement here.

Yes, that's what I thought. Thank you. I'll be reporting it.

I can only go on the facts and what I've been told.

I've been told "he's a drinker", I haven't been told about any health or medical conditions.

Facts are if he's a drinker, I cannot leave him responsible for this project.

Do people really make major decisions by asking a random online forum?
like seriously?
important employment decisions?
fuck me
its like using that fish that came out of Christmas crackers years ago
Utterly random and quite possibly dangerous as you have no idea who is advising you

I work in a zero tolerance firm. The onus is on all of us to flag any cause for concern and it will trigger a 'cause for' testing. If he's not then great. 20% of us get randomly tested every month anyway.

So the person who told you these facts
its the opinion of their gossipy brains then
or do they have actual evidence
this bloke is well rid of this shit show

I'm not using MN to make the decision for me. If you'll notice by my voting options - YANBU = report. That's always what I was going to do. I'm just looking for other opinions. Because MN is an opinion forum.....

If you are supervising the project then you have every right to double check his planning and ask questions about anything that concerns you.

I would also ask if he wants you on hand during the execution of the project as he seems to have been “under the weather lately” and you’ve noticed he’s been needing frequent breaks.

It would also be negligent, possibly to a criminal degree, not to report your concerns with lives on the line. Think of it as part of your risk management plan. His health is a risk that needs to be mitigated and factored into the risk assessment.

If this was me, I'd do three things. Log it with the ethics/whistle blowing service, contact HR to tell them that someone has mention alcohol related to me, put it in writing to a senior leader on the project.

If fatalities are a real risk, you need to take action. If you are wrong, fine. But if you are not and someone doesn't come home from work because people felt unable to raise concerns, that would be a tragedy.

Why is he 'working his notice' ?

Sounds like they couldn't find anyone to replace him sooner. Regardless of why he's leaving I wouldn't be having him in charge of a big project.

Ask his Biss WTF is going on. He thinks he's a drinker. Why is he on your premises.

of course you don't allow him to be in charge of the priject

Thank you. I am not the project supervisor but I have experience on this particular activity next week so I'm going to jump in and take over.

You're right. It would be negligent regardless of what his needs or illness might be.

I think you need to tread carefully here. I would personally report but make it clear YOU are not accusing him, you've heard someone say he is a drinker, but you're also aware he might be unwell and don't want to pry. You can say something tactfully. The company is likely aware if there's another issue at play.

Just report it
It’s not up to you to decipher whether it’s because of alcohol or not
let management do that
I am a drug counsellor you’ll be surprised, the amount of construction workers, bus drivers and other people in charge of people safety, use, crack, heroin and alcohol

Don't know why you're getting so much shit OP. It's an upsetting situation and you're clearly looking for help making sense of your thoughts/feelings by writing it down. I'm glad you've had some sensible responses and absolutely I agree, you should raise your concerns. The remark 'he's a drinker' isn't something that's said about someone who drinks in moderation. And if it's something else causing the lateness and vomming on the job he's probably not fit to work in the role at this time anyway.

Is there a mandatory drug check you can do, I'd hate to see someone get sacked for drinking if it turns out he has an illness.

Yes, we have a with-cause drug testing service.

I work for a multi-national with a zero tolerance towards alcohol and drugs, we have a "whistle blowing hotline" which I would ring if I had any concerns.
This is not for gossiping or anything of the sorts, but if anyone in my company, especially in production, were to make a mistake while under influence, it could potentially kill hundreds of people.

Try cocaine too !

Well that would be my first port of call before reporting him.

If there is a zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy insist that he is given a “random” unannounced test on Monday morning. That should highlight any problems if there are some.