🍸 Drink Spiking: An Unsettling Reality in the Workplace? 🍹

💥 The recent media KPMG article, in which this employer has suffered two episodes of drink spiking at its workplace, makes for uneasy reading.

The recent Mama Hooch case, where convicted rapist brothers Roberto & Danny Jaz were found to have drink-spiked and raped patrons over years, seems remote from such criminal conduct occurring in the offices of a plush Auckland accounting firm.

🔰 A Report commissioned by the Australian Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy highlights the degree to which drink spiking is under-reported. There is obviously a fundamental challenge in measuring the extent of drink spiking in the community, and in the workplace.

Ø Of significant concern is the finding that while one third of all drink spiking incidents are associated with sexual assault

Ø less than one sixth of suspected drink spiking sexual assaults are believed to be reported to police.

🔊 One of the key messages in the report is the need to raise awareness of the incidents of spiking – be it at workplaces or at licenced premises. Only with knowledge can all parties – employers, employees and licenced premises – understand how to best deal with this criminal conduct.

✔ Employers obviously have health & safety obligations to do all that is reasonably practical to protect their employees from ‘hazards.’ Who would have known that this would extend to workplace drinks? It seems nowadays an employer who had alcohol at work events needs to get ‘spiking advice’

· train staff to spot the signs of both potential vulnerable victims and those who are potentially suffering the effects of spiking and how to deal with the situation

· train staff in the handling of evidence (securing glasses and drinks used by potential victims and/or suspects) and securing other evidence, such as CCTV.

· Events where alcohol is served might consider promoting #Spikeaware by displaying posters and other literature within their premises.

🤳🏼 Drink spiking can seriously traumatise people and is totally unacceptable. To now have this in the workplace is deeply concerning.

What are you doing an employer to ensure your workplace isn’t a crime scene?