Workers Drunk on Job

15% of U.S. Workers Report Workplace Alcohol   Use or Impairment in Past Year.

An estimated 19.2 million U.S. workers (15.3%) reported using or being impaired by alcohol at work at least once in the past year, according to recently released data from the National Survey of Workplace Health and Safety.

The most common alcohol-related workplace behaviors were;

• being hungover at work (9.2%) and
• using alcohol during the workday (7.1%), primarily during lunch breaks.

Despite the relative magnitude of the problem, most workplace alcohol use or impairment occurred infrequently—

• 70% of workers reported using or being impaired by alcohol on a less than monthly basis,
• 19% reported it on a monthly basis, and
• 11% reported doing so weekly.

According to the authors, “the prevalence of alcohol use and impairment in the workplace was sufficiently high to suggest that employers need specific policies directed at alcohol use and impairment at work and employees need to be aware of these policies”

Adapted by CESAR from Frone M.R. “Prevalence and Distribution of Alcohol Use and Impairment in the Workplace: A U.S. National Survey,” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 67(1):147-156, 2006.

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