By Guy Taylor
Manufacturing giant JCB is investigating a string of drug use incidents among its workers based at its Staffordshire headquarters and has sacked a number of staff, according to reports.
A message from JCB’s human resources director to UK employees, seen by the Guardian, said the company had conducted a “series of investigations into substance misuse” over the past two months, which resulted in a “small but significant number of people leaving JCB.”
Sniffer dogs deployed at its site over a week-long period rooted out 22 staff who subsequently tested positive for either drugs or alcohol, or refused to take a drugs test, the company, through its lawyers Schillings, revealed.
Some 75 per cent of those tested positive for cannabis through urine tests, it added, while further laboratory tests were being carried out on the results.
The digger-maker told the Guardian the staff did not hold senior management positions, but would not confirm whether any class A drugs such as cocaine were found in the tests. A further 11 UK workers have either been sacked or resigned between April and December for refusing to take part in drug and alcohol tests or recording a positive test, it added.
A spokesman for JCB told City A.M: “The health and safety of everyone working at JCB is the company’s top priority. The risks posed by substance misuse and alcohol abuse in the workplace can be very serious, and for this reason, JCB has a zero-tolerance approach to the issue.”
JCB is controlled by the major conservative party donors, the Bamford family, and is one of the UK’s largest manufacturers. Some 8,000 staff work in its UK offices, with its global employee count numbering around 15,000.
The Bamford family has given tens of thousands to the former prime minister Boris Johnson, including to fund his wedding celebrations last summer. The company’s chair, the billionaire Anthony Bamford, is seperately under investigation by HMRC over his tax affairs.
After questions from the Guardian, JCB’s lawyers said on Tuesday that it investigated allegations managers had been supplied with drugs in October. The company was shown alleged screenshots of messages dating to July 2023, which appeared to show three employees buying and using drugs, the newspaper reported.
JCB’s lawyers’ Schillings were approached for comment.
