Alcohol awareness in the workplace

Each day in the UK, 200,000 people are turning up to work with a hangover; that’s the equivalent of four Hampden Park stadiums.

Alcohol related sickness is also responsible for 17 million sick days a year with a loss to UK industry of £7.3bn.

These are huge figures highlighting the scale of the challenge facing UK employers and employees alike.

That’s why alcohol education charity Drinkaware has developed the Drinkaware at Work programme which aims to support employers’ existing health and wellbeing agendas.

By giving employees the facts about alcohol and about how it might be affecting their physical and mental health both in and out of work, they can be encouraged to make better choices about their drinking which in turn leads to a healthier, happier and more productive workplace.

There are various ways that Drinkaware offers this work-based initiative.

The first is the ‘Everything you need to know about alcohol’ face to face sessions. These one-hour interactive sessions answers employees’ questions about alcohol– everything from ‘what is a unit?’ and strength of common drinks, to how their health and wellbeing at work might be affected by their everyday drinking. We provide impartial advice on making better choices about their drinking.

If face to face sessions aren’t practical, we’ve also developed an e learning course. This interactive digital course allows employees to learn about the effects of alcohol from their own desks and at their own pace. Our three bitesize modules feature videos, quizzes and a certificate on completion, delivering the facts about alcohol in an engaging, empowering way.

Our information and advice has already helped employees and employers across the UK. And this year, we’re working with the Scottish Alcohol Industry Partnership to deliver free ‘Everything you need to know about alcohol ‘sessions across Scotland. The sessions will include ‘Myth buster’ quizzes, ‘Guess the units’ challenges and free take-home tools.

The Drinkaware at Work programme has shown that information and advice can really make a difference in helping people make better choices about alcohol and its effect on their lives, both in and out of work.

To find out more about how Drinkaware can help you and your employees visit their website.