Risky alcohol use can have many impacts on a workplace including absenteeism and loss of productivity. The use of alcohol becomes an occupational safety and health issue if a person’s ability to exercise judgement, coordination, motor control, concentration and alertness is affected, leading to an increased risk of injury or illness.
Employers have a legal duty-of-care to provide a safe and healthy workplace. They are responsible for addressing alcohol use, but there are measures that everyone can take to prevent alcohol-related problems from occurring. This may include changing attitudes towards the way alcohol is consumed. To find out what you can do click here.
The Problem
- Approximately 4.4% of Australians go to work while affected by alcohol, and over 6% report their usual place to consume alcohol is the workplace (The 2004 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2005).
- The greater costs to employers do not arise through the behaviour and habits of alcohol dependent workers, but through the greater number of moderate drinkers when they occasionally or infrequently drink to excess.
( Collins, D & Lapsley, H. 2008).
- The effects of alcohol were estimated to cost Australian workplaces $3.6 billion in the 2004/2005 (Collins, D & Lapsley, H. 2008).
- In Australia, it is estimated that alcohol is a contributing factor in an estimated 4% of workplace deaths and between 3-11% of workplace injuries (Breugem, L., Barnett, L., Cormack, S., O’Keeffe, V. & Bowshall, M. 2006).