[Alcohol and work. Consensus Document of the La.R.A. (Workers representing a risk for others) group]

Current Italian legislation obliges employers to prevent workers who are occupationally at risk or who perform jobs that may be hazardous for the safety or health of third parties from consuming alcohol. The LaRA Group undertook to assess whether the law fully safeguards the health and safety of both workers and third parties, without impinging upon the civil rights of workers

[Alcohol and work. Consensus Document of the La.R.A. (Workers representing a risk for others) group]

Current Italian legislation obliges employers to prevent workers who are occupationally at risk or who perform jobs that may be hazardous for the safety or health of third parties from consuming alcohol. The LaRA Group undertook to assess whether the law fully safeguards the health and safety of both workers and third parties, without impinging upon the civil rights of workers

Alcol e lavoro. Documento di consenso del gruppo LaRA

Aim: Current Italian legislation obliges employers to prevent workers who are occupationally at risk or who perform jobs that may be hazardous for the safety or health of third parties from consuming alcohol. The LaRA Group has set out to assess whether the law fully safeguards the health and safety of both workers and third parties, without impinging upon the civil rights of workers. Method: A written document expressing agreement was produced following discussions between doctors, lawyers, bioethicists and social partners. Results: There are gaps and inconsistencies in current laws; the differences in local and regional provisions prevent authorities from applying a single strategy at national level. There should be a change in existing rules under which the employer\u2019s obligation to enforce the ban on drinking alcohol in the workplace is enacted solely by the \u201ccompetent\u201d physician whose institutional role is to safeguard and promote health. Some occupational categories that are subject to a ban on alcohol drinking do not currently undergo health surveillance. For example, if road transport drivers are not exposed to a specific occupational risk foreseen under another law, they can be placed under health surveillance only in those regions where the local laws contemplate this type of control. In other cases, the practice of assessing the risk to third parties and providing for compulsory health surveillance in the Risk Assessment Document, is considered by some jurists to be a "consuetudo praeter legem" and therefore acceptable in a field not yet covered by a specific law, but to be "contra legem\u201d or unlawful by other jurists. Moreover, the competent physician who uses a breathanalyser or tests for alcohol addiction faces an ethical dilemma, since by communicating the results to an employer or authorities responsible for the issuing of licenses, he may be violating his professional oath of secrecy. Furthermore, the emphasis placed on testing has induced companies and inspectors to overlook educational and rehabilitation aspects. It is essential to involve general practitioners, educators and specialist services in addressing the problems of alcohol abuse so as to inform/train, recover and rehabilitate. The few studies available indicate that the rules are poorly enforced and that non-compliance may go unobserved. Conclusions: The Group urges all employers to assess the risk for third parties caused by alcohol abuse and to devise a policy on alcohol. Controlling alcohol-related risks in the workplace calls for a better definition of the roles of Vigilance Bodies and Competent Physicians together with a shift from a reactive to a proactive attitude of all the parties involved

Some reflections on neuroscience and civil law

This chapter is about some prospects opened up by neurosciences for the current civil law. Just think about the discovery of the mirror-neurons and the possible use of it in the negotiation (it imposes the protection of self-determination and consensus of the contracting party); or about the consequences deriving from neuro-scientific knowledge for the notion of legal capacity (or actual abilities) of natural persons. This provides a good guess of how valuable the neuro-scientific knowledge could be for the more effective and efficient protection of the human dignity