# drugs and tobacco



## rednip120372 (Dec 5, 2011)

Just been browsing the jobs section and being a English plumber can't believe some company's in the US perform drugs tests and forbid employees using tobacco whilst in there uniforms! 
Never seen this here in the UK I find the different ways plumbers work etc in the US compared to over here in England fascinating. It's so interesting I realy want to find out more about your working practices any recommendations on a good book!


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## incarnatopnh (Feb 1, 2011)

You can use drugs on the job in the UK?


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

You are reading a great book right here.
Just read through some of the treads and you'll get a good idea how things work on this side of the pond.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

incarnatopnh said:


> You can use drugs on the job in the UK?


Lmao, I don't see how any work could get done if that's the case.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

rednip120372 said:


> ...being a English plumber can't believe some company's in the US perform drugs tests and forbid employees using tobacco whilst in there uniforms! .....


Smoking has fallen far from grace here in the U.S. It is often deemed quite offensive to non-smokers and down right reviled by former smokers.

That said, there are also many that will maintain their right right to smoke no matter the affect on those around them whether real or supposed.

Some shops are more strict on this than others and we also have some real scum that openly condone drug and alcohol use on the job. We have it from one end of the spectrum to the other in the good ole USA.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

plbgbiz said:


> Smoking has fallen far from grace here in the U.S. It is often deemed quite offensive to non-smokers and down right reviled by former smokers.
> 
> That said, there are also many that will maintain their right right to smoke no matter the affect on those around them whether real or supposed.
> 
> Some shops are more strict on this than others and we also have some real scum that openly condone drug and alcohol use on the job. We have it from one end of the spectrum to the other in the good ole USA.


Who are you calling "scum"?

My drug policy is very opaque -- If you have some, you have to share it with the Boss at the end of the day when we're unwinding and rehearsing for our next gig.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

Speaking of smoking. I had a customer I wouldn't work for because of the smoke. I think I've become hyper sensitive to it. I asked her not to while I was in that room, she indignantly replied "It's MY HOUSE!", but I couldn't be in an 11 x 5 bathroom with her while she smoked like a chimney. It was so bad, I had to change clothes after I left.


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## beachplumber (Feb 7, 2010)

Hmm maybe a move to the uk


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

I am the only non smoker in my company. We have a few bigger customers that don't allow tobacco on the property. So these poor guys are jonesing for a cig like crazy. I love it. I don't know about the rest of OK but it seems like everyone smokes in my little corner.


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

Try dipping instead of smoking, no nasty smell and unless someone knows about it, hard to tell someone is actually consuming tobacco. I used to smoke for close to 10 years and now the smell of a cig makes me gag.


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## incarnatopnh (Feb 1, 2011)

I couldn't imagine a bunch of guys trying to work all hopped up on coke. Must be interesting in the UK.


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## rednip120372 (Dec 5, 2011)

Ha no no no we are not supposed to be in drugs but we would never be tested for it!


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## rednip120372 (Dec 5, 2011)

In all seriousness I have never taken any drugs ever! I don't even drink alcohol but I do smoke. I would never smoke in a customers house etc but while on a break it up to me if I smoke out side or in the van. But I would be very offended if a employer wanted to drug test me!


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## mccmech (Jul 6, 2011)

504Plumber said:


> Try dipping instead of smoking, no nasty smell and unless someone knows about it, hard to tell someone is actually consuming tobacco. I used to smoke for close to 10 years and now the smell of a cig makes me gag.



Yes, and when ya get that gum cancer it looks soooo much more attractive than lung-cancer. I'm not a smoker, never have been. My soon-to-be ex-wife has been though. I just never saw the benefit of either one.


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## mccmech (Jul 6, 2011)

rednip120372 said:


> In all seriousness I have never taken any drugs ever! I don't even drink alcohol but I do smoke. I would never smoke in a customers house etc but while on a break it up to me if I smoke out side or in the van. But I would be very offended if a employer wanted to drug test me!



I worked with a smoker at one time who actually left his cigarette butts on the driveways of homes we were working in.


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

I believe people have the right to put what ever substances into their bodies they want (regardless of what our all knowing government wants to call legal or illegal). They still have to consider the people around them though. Also, it is my right as an employer to drug test anyone at any time for any reason. Don't like it? Don't work here.

I consider nicotine a drug. I may refuse to hire anyone do to nicotine use or fire them. Don't like it? Tough.


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## incarnatopnh (Feb 1, 2011)

I am a smoker. I don't smoke on jobsites. I will smoke in my work van if no one is with me. I consider it a matter of respect. As for drugs, I don't care what other people do but if you work for me, you won't be using them.


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## ChrisConnor (Dec 31, 2009)

I used to work for a guy that forbade smoking in company vehicles and any use of tobacco that would possibly make you offensive to customers. 

He put it plainly that smoking was pollution and he doesn't want it contaminating the interior of his trucks or his uniforms or his customers homes.


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

It is unlawful in Ontario to smoke in ANY copany vehicle, period. Even as a sole proprietor you are subject to a fine. Also, any enclosed workplace or any indoor public place. 

If you are caught smoking in your own vehicle, and there is evidence that a person under 16 ever rides in that vehicle (a carseat for eg) you can face a fine.


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## incarnatopnh (Feb 1, 2011)

Ok now I can fire everyone up... North America seems to be the only part of the world that condemns smoking like this. Where are the smokers rights advocates? Aclu?


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

incarnatopnh said:


> Ok now I can fire everyone up... North America seems to be the only part of the world that condemns smoking like this. Where are the smokers rights advocates? Aclu?


Smokers , white males and Christian's are the last groups that can be discriminated against and the aclu could careless.:furious:


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

I've worked on a few jobs where I was in the extreme minority of being NOT on drugs every day...


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## SewerRat (Feb 26, 2011)

Maybe the difference from the UK to the US is that here we have to cover our butts so nobody sues us. For example, as an employer if my employee is higher than a kite and is driving one of my company trucks and has a crash that kills someone, then the victim's family would probably sue my company for having unsafe drivers on the road. Over here everyone wants a stellar safety record because it affects insurance rates and reflects on the company's reputation. As far as smoking, there are probably some employers who are concerned about the liability of having an employee flick a cigarette butt into some dry weeds and burn the subdivision down. (I'm from a desert, can you tell?) Or it could be as simple as the fact that most companies want to have a spotlessly clean appearance, and allowing smoking in your company or on jobs instantly alienates the entire non-smoking population. Even successful companies can't afford that.

Maybe. Just some thoughts.


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

Service companies here are under real pressure to have a clean image.

Long sleeve shirts if you have tatts. Do not smoke on customers' property, use some spray to mask the smell if you smoke in the truck, butts disposed of responsibly. 

I was background checked and drug tested before I got my current job.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

I have never tried any drugs and haven't drank either. And ain't never smoked either. And im not gonna try it either. I've seen to many people go down fast because of drugs and alcohol.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

Mississippiplum said:


> I have never tried any drugs and haven't drank either. And ain't never smoked either. And im not gonna try it either. I've seen to many people go down fast because of drugs and alcohol.


B-O-R-I-N-G.

Getting lit once in awhile just might be what you need, Mrs. Pissy.

Sure couldn't hurt.


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## beachplumber (Feb 7, 2010)

Isn,t there a prerequisite to b a master.


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## brass plumbing (Jul 30, 2008)

*Abused Alcohol & Drugs*

Add to our taxes to care for the people who are affected by the abused alcohol & drugs. Includes company benefits. Example is they have insurance abuse is covered. What about the people who don't use? They get to pay the portion the ex-workers can't handle anymore. I don't want the weight of someone else's ignorance coming outta my check anymore.


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## grandpa (Jul 13, 2008)

Like it or not, in many parts of the country, if you send a serviceman into someone's house and he smells like a goat, or smells like a smokestack, you WON'T be invited back.

One large company in the Los Angeles area bases their media campaign as the "smell good plumber". Seems to work for them.


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## PlumberShep (Sep 22, 2010)

brass plumbing said:


> Add to our taxes to care for the people who are affected by the abused alcohol & drugs. Includes company benefits. Example is they have insurance abuse is covered. What about the people who don't use? They get to pay the portion the ex-workers can't handle anymore. I don't want the weight of someone else's ignorance coming outta my check anymore.


Lets take it a step or two further to include anyone that rides a motorcycle, skydives, scuba dives ,overeats, practices unsafe sex, flies a plane, doesnt exercise, owns a firearm, lives in a rough hood, or participates in sports.You can be hurt or killed doing any of those things and it is really unfair to the people that dont do them, when the people that do, dont asked for the bosses permission first.I mean, if the guy is generous enough to pay you for 8 hrs of your day, the very least you can do is let him dictate how you spend the other 16.


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## DesertOkie (Jul 15, 2011)

Mississippiplum said:


> I have never tried any drugs and haven't drank either. And ain't never smoked either. And im not gonna try it either. I've seen to many people go down fast because of drugs and alcohol.




"There is no try. There is only do or do not." Yoda

I haven't tried any either.:laughing:


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## Master Mark (Aug 14, 2009)

*not testing your employees*



rednip120372 said:


> Ha no no no we are not supposed to be in drugs but we would never be tested for it!


 
In this country, it is considered a "perk or benefit " to the job not to be tested...
 all the dope heads see their job something like a cool place to work..
even if they are only getting 9 bucks an hour......:yes:.

some places would not be able to find anyone to work 
for them if they acutally did drug tests on everyone...

usually,, all it takes is one terrible accident or disaster 
with lawsuits flying and the company in trouble with their insurance provider.....
then drug testing is implemented and everyone has to shape up or ship out..

its fun trying to babysit a bunch of 40 year olds
with pony-tails and tatoos still thinking they are just 
out of high school....cause they are so stoned...

..


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

504Plumber said:


> Try dipping instead of smoking, no nasty smell and unless someone knows about it, hard to tell someone is actually consuming tobacco. I used to smoke for close to 10 years and now the smell of a cig makes me gag.


Just that nasty lil spit bucket that would gag a maggot...


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

Redwood said:


> Just that nasty lil spit bucket that would gag a maggot...


use water bottles, just don't drink out of them. Made that mistake once, never again.


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

504Plumber said:


> use water bottles, just don't drink out of them. Made that mistake once, never again.


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## Dun' Right (Sep 27, 2010)

Redwood said:


> Just that nasty lil spit bucket that would gag a maggot...


My own chew bottle has gagged me a few times. lol I'm trying hard to quit, but it's a rough go. Nasty habit IMO. 

That being said. I have no right, to tell another person what they can or cannot put in their body. I have no right to talk down to a person that chooses to live their life the way they want too. 

I'm sure we all have habits or things we do that won't agree with the whole world. I'd rather be around a real person, than a trained "puppet" any day. 

What makes people think they are so better than other people to say what they can and can't do. I'd hate to, and would not work for a company that wouldn't hire be because of the sole purpose that I chew tobacco. 

I can say with 100% certainty that I'd rather be around somebody stoned off their ass, than around somebody who's had too much to drink. If it makes somebody happy, or their life a little easier, whether it be for medical reasons, or recreational reasons I think everybody has the god given right to do what they want to do no matter what anybody thinks. 

As long as it doesn't affect me, or my business than it's ok with me. Leave your baggage at home though. You come to work f'd up your done. No warnings, no excuses, no apologies. I'll just tell them to go home, and they can pick up their paycheck the following day. 

Another thing, if your habit (s), are the kind that seem to have the tendency to make people steal, lie, or cheat then I will quickly remove you from my life. Whether it be a friend, or a coworker, employee, etc....

End Rant. 

Moral of the statement is, live your own life. Don't hate on other people for living theirs. It's a fine line when you start taking others rights away, because I'm sure everybody here would have their panties in a bunch if somebody took rights away from them.


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## RW Plumbing (Aug 16, 2010)

Dun' Right said:


> My own chew bottle has gagged me a few times. lol I'm trying hard to quit, but it's a rough go. Nasty habit IMO.
> 
> That being said. I have no right, to tell another person what they can or cannot put in their body. I have no right to talk down to a person that chooses to live their life the way they want too.
> 
> ...


I was a big dipper too but I recieved way to many complaints, mostly from my wife. Try Snus, it's originally from Sweden but some American companies are making it now. Personally I use Skoal mint snus, it's a bit sweeter than regular chew but you don't have to spit and the nicotine level is high enough to satisfy me. You can have a dip in anywhere without anyone even knowing about it.


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

Master Mark said:


> In this country, it is considered a "perk or benefit " to the job not to be tested...
> all the dope heads see their job something like a cool place to work..
> even if they are only getting 9 bucks an hour......:yes:.
> 
> ...


Your bitterness towards your employees (whether in the past or present) is staggering!

It seems as though every post you make in that regard is negative.

Live a little Mark, see the glass as being "half full" every now and again!

:thumbup:


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## JK949 (Mar 18, 2009)

grandpa said:


> Like it or not, in many parts of the country, if you send a serviceman into someone's house and he smells like a goat, or smells like a smokestack, you WON'T be invited back.
> 
> One large company in the Los Angeles area bases their media campaign as the "smell good plumber". Seems to work for them.


They have an F- rating with the BBB for other reasons.


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