The use of legal or illegal drugs by our workers is an ever
increasing problem in our industry. It is difficult enough to mitigate on a
daily basis the numerous hazards our plants have with workers who are not under the
influenced of drugs. Here is an to a recent posting of a fatality that upon post mortem found that the worker had tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) in his system. THC is the chemical responsible for most
of marijuana's psychological effects. Here is the story:
A worker who died after he was caught in a
machine at an aluminum plant in Western USA had the psychoactive chemical of
marijuana in his bloodstream.
The worker was caught in an aluminum splitter
machine one day during the week of on August 7, 2016. He died at the scene.
The director of the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration's area office, tells news media that if inspectors find a
malfunctioning or improperly set up machine led to the death, the marijuana in
worker's system won't matter in determining a penalty.
The aluminium company's vice president of
human resources, declined to comment because the death is still being
investigated.
The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog once again offers our sincere
condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. The state where this worker lived
recreational marijuana use is legal. But, many companies have banned their
workers from being under the influence of marijuana while on the job. We
acknowledge that OSHA has not released its final report on this incident. But,
we feel that the THC in the worker’s system at minimum may be a contributing factor.
If it is not listed by OSHA, no doubt the aluminum company will vigorously
defend itself against legal action citing the THC as a contributing factor
beyond the company’s knowledge.
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