Alcohol use at work common
5 July 2011
Almost one in 10 Australian workers admit they usually drink alcohol at their job, while fewer than one in 100 say they usually use drugs at their workplace.
Researchers used data from the 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), which polled over 23,000 Australian residents, including 10,000 workers aged 14 and over, on their use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
The researchers found alcohol use was "widespread" in the workplace and most likely to occur higher up the management chain, while tradespeople and unskilled workers were more likely to use drugs at work (Addiction 2011, online 27 Jun).
"Nearly one in 10 (8.7 per cent) reported usually drinking at work [and] 0.9 per cent reported usually using drugs at work," said the authors, from the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction at Flinders University, Adelaide.
"Alcohol use at work is widespread, in contrast to the relatively low prevalence of drug use."
The study found 5.6 per cent of workers reported attending work under the influence of alcohol, and 2 per cent reported attending work under the influence of a drug.
Among workers reporting routine use, around 17 per cent of alcohol users and nearly 50 per cent of drug users admitted to working "under the influence", a disparity attributed to workers either using minimal amounts or downplaying the intoxicating effects of alcohol.
The most commonly used workplace drugs were painkillers, amphetamines and methamphetamines, followed by cannabis and ecstasy.
Young, male, never-married workers with no dependent children were more likely than other groups to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
"Managers were the occupational group with the highest proportion of workers who usually used alcohol at work," the authors said.
"This finding stands in stark contrast to the growth of workplace drug testing which targets illicit drugs and the virtual neglect of alcohol use as a workplace hazard."
Last Reviewed: 05 July 2011
- 1. Pidd K, Roche AM, Buisman-Pijlman F. Intoxicated workers: findings from a national Australian survey. Addiction 2011 Jun 28. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03462.x. [Epub ahead of print]. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03462.x/abstract (accessed Jul 2011).
