Alcohol and the workplace

ABSTRACT

Alcohol is the most widely used drug in the world today, and is an integral part of the social, cultural and economic life of many countries. Its use at the workplace, however, can be particularly serious, as it has an influence on human performance that can affect, for example, productivity, accident rates, working relationships and absenteeism. The perceived negative role of alcohol at work is therefore of concern to employers and has led to the introduction of policies that aim to ban or at least to control alcohol consumption. There are clearly a number of ways in which alcohol-related problems can be addressed. What is not clear, however, is which approaches are likely to be the most successful in particular circumstances. This review describes a range of different approaches to alleviating such problems and, where possible, assesses their effectiveness. Of particular concern is the accuracy of current estimates of “cost” and the effects that these estimates have on the perception of the seriousness of alcohol-related problems, a perception that plays a major role in motivating the introduction of alcohol control measures.