OK look, there are certainly a lot of pressures to get buildings completed on time, but I’d never thought I’d hear of construction workers being GIVEN crystal meth in order to finish a building on time. But, that’s what multiple sources are telling Radio Free Asia (RFA) is happening right now in North Korea. According to RFA, the project managers working on a “showcase” construction project in Pyongyang, which includes many different buildings, are under extreme pressures to finish on time.
In order to finish before the cold weather season hits, the source says, the project managers have been supplying the thousands of workers on site with a methamphetamine, which is known to greatly increase energy and attention. It’s also known to cause extremely erratic behavior in the short term and major brain damage in the long term. The Telegraph in the UK spoke with the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, who said that if this is truly going on, it will be tough to verify.
If these reports are true, it’s truly a sad day for human rights, both in terms of the harmful effects the drug has on a person’s body and the clear lack of safety concerns on the job sites. As we all know, mixing drugs or alcohol and construction sites is a major source of disaster and it’s highly recommended for all construction companies to employ a strict substance abuse policy. A person under the influence of drugs and alcohol is 3.6 times more likely to be involved in a workplace accident, which is a risk none of us should be willing to take. The sad reality is that the construction industry in America has the highest rate (15.6%) of drug users of any industry in the country, according to the Department of Labor.
Full Story: Drugs Fuel Work Surge at North Korean Building Site | Radio Free Asi
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