More than 25 million adults in England regularly drink alcohol, and this is something that is often brought into the spotlight following the festive period and the annual Dry January challenge. Studies show that adults who drink alcohol are more likely to be employed than non-drinkers. With this in mind, it is important to understand how alcohol can impact workers and businesses as a whole.
Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines
There is no completely safe level of drinking, however the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines for men and women are to avoid drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis. This is because regularly drinking more than this amount can increase the risk of death from long term illness, and from accidents and injuries.
1 unit of alcohol is found in half a pint of most beers, a single measure of spirits or a small glass of wine.
Terminology
The risk associated with alcohol use can be seen as a spectrum, and there is certain terminology that can help us to understand the different types of drinking:
• Hazardous or harmful drinking – the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines hazardous drinking as ‘a pattern of consumption that increases someone’s risk of harm’.
• Alcohol dependence – this can be defined as persistent drinking despite harm, a strong desire to drink, and prioritising alcohol over other obligations (such as work or family commitments).
Effects of Work and Occupation on Alcohol consumption
Work itself can have an impact on an individual’s alcohol consumption. 27% of employees cite workplace stress as a reason for drinking more. There is an association between seniority of a role and the amount of alcohol consumed. Studies have found that certain occupations are associated with a higher likelihood of heavy drinking and these include skilled trade occupations (such as construction work and manufacturing roles) with the highest rates of heavy drinking seen in publicans, plasterers and industrial cleaning process occupations.
Effects of Alcohol Consumption on Work
It is estimated that lost productivity due to alcohol use costs the UK economy more than £7 billion each year. Between 3-5% of all work absence is caused by alcohol consumption and 25% of workers say that drugs or alcohol have affected them a work. Alcohol consumption can lead to reduced productivity in workers, and it can impact an individual’s ability to keep themselves safe at work – this is especially important in safety critical roles, such as roles that involve driving or working at height, for example.
Employer’s have a legal duty to protect employee’s health, safety and welfare at work, and the HSE advise that understanding the signs of drug and alcohol abuse can help employers to develop a policy to deal with such issues within the workplace:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/alcoholdrugs/develop-policy.htm
Warning signs that an employee may be misusing alcohol could be a reduction in productivity, frequent absence (often directly after a weekend), a change in behaviour, conduct issues and accidents at work.
Please contact us if you need professional medical advice about alcohol use or misuse. We can help employers and employees by providing medical assessments, tailored advice, education programmes and staff training.
Resources for employers:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/alcoholdrugs/index.htm
https://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/pdf/In%20the%20Workplace/indg240.pdf
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/sr-acuk-craft/documents/Fact-sheets/Alcohol-and-workplaces.pdf
https://www.cipd.org/globalassets/media/knowledge/knowledge-hub/guides/drug-alcohol-misuse-work-report-1_tcm18-83090.pdf
Resources to help reduce drinking:
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/drink-less/#:~:text=Alcohol%20guidelines,risk%20of%20harming%20your%20health
https://alcoholchange.org.uk/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alcohol-misuse/
