B.C. office employees want some pot restrictions: survey
More than 60 per cent see need for a ban on sparking up a joint during work hours
B.C. office workers are more opposed to smoking marijuana during work hours than their counterparts in other provinces, suggests a Colliers International survey.
The survey, released Tuesday, comes a day before the recreational use of cannabis becomes legal in Canada.
The real estate firm surveyed 1,062 office workers last month in buildings that it manages in Alberta, Atlantic Canada, British Columbia and Ontario.
Overall, 38 per cent said there should be zero tolerance for the use of marijuana in the workplace, while 30 per cent thought it should be moderately or mostly unrestricted.
Thirty per cent of office workers felt that marijuana use should be unrestricted in the workplace and be treated similarly to alcohol consumption or cigarette smoking.
“This sentiment came as a surprise, conveying the idea that people thought that it was fine to go out for lunch and consume marijuana, similar to having a glass of wine or a beer,” Colliers said in the survey.
B.C. office workers were most likely to say that marijuana use, marketing and availability are unacceptable at their places of work, while Albertans were most likely to say cannabis is acceptable in their office buildings.
The survey found only 26 per cent of B.C. workers surveyed thought marijuana use should be mostly unrestricted during work hours, compared with 37 per cent in Alberta, 29 per cent in Ontario, and 27 per cent in Atlantic Canada.
In British Columbia, 61 per cent wanted restrictions on employees lighting up during work hours, while 12 per cent were neutral or unsure.
More than half (55 per cent) of B.C. office workers said it would be unacceptable for a retailer to sell pot within the office building. Fifteen per cent said it would be OK, while 29 per cent were neutral on that question.
Urban office workers were four per cent more likely to say that cannabis should be “moderately unrestricted” and treated similarly to alcohol than suburban office employees. Colliers said overall nearly half the people surveyed (49 per cent) said selling marijuana products within an office building is unacceptable.
The survey was conducted between Sept. 11 and Sept. 28. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.
On Tuesday, WorkSafeBC launched an awareness campaign about the safety issues that arise from cannabis impairment in the workplace.
“Impairment in the workplace isn’t a new issue in B.C., but it’s become top of mind as cannabis becomes legal for recreational use,” Tom Brocklehurst, director of prevention practices and quality for WorkSafeBC, said in a statement.
“We’re reaching out to employers and workers to remind them that they share responsibility for managing impairment in the workplace.”
Under occupational health-and-safety regulations, employers must not allow a worker who is impaired by alcohol or drugs to perform work activities that could endanger the worker or anyone else.
WorkSafeBC is advising employers to develop policies and procedures that address impairment in the workplace and to ensure that those policies are communicated to staff.