Are your ‘Friday afternoon drinks’ encouraging a culture of drinking in your organisation?

Opinion Piece: Are your ‘Friday afternoon drinks’ encouraging a culture of drinking in your organisa... 

By Rhys Evans, Director at ALCO-Safe

Alcohol consumption in the workplace and during working hours goes against the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act. While the majority of businesses are aware of this and have controls in place to discourage it, they also often inadvertently encourage a ‘culture of drinking’ within the company. 

Many organisations have a ‘Friday drinks’ tradition where employees gather and drink after work at the end of the week. A lot of organisations even supply the alcohol and may even have snacks or a braai as part of this event. While such events have their place and are an enjoyable end to the week for many, ensuring that these popular social events do not encroach on working hours or cause health and safety issues is essential. Education and effective policies form crucial components of a considered and proactive approach. 

The tradition of Friday drinks is a social and bonding exercise and is often popular, however, if it is not approached correctly it can also be hazardous and is potentially in contravention of organisational health and safety policies. A responsible approach is very important, and requires the consideration of a number of different aspects. 

Firstly, in order to effectively ‘cover their bases’, organisations need to include such events in their alcohol consumption policies. If social events that allow for the consumption of alcohol are not included in policies, a loophole is created that could introduce risk and liability. It is also a contradiction to disallow alcohol consumption yet let people drink at the workplace on certain days, which makes it difficult to dismiss employees for drinking on the job. It can create problems with legal defence in case of any issues, since organisations cannot prove that they acted responsibly if there are inconsistencies with policy. 

A clause should be inserted into company policy specifying that alcohol consumption is only permitted at these specific times. The clause also needs to state that employees may not return to work after consuming alcohol, and that it is the responsibility of the employee to ensure that they remain within the legal limit. Finally, the clause needs to state that consumption of alcohol is purely voluntary and employees partake in such events of their own free will. 

Employees need to know that such events are a privilege that should not be abused, and that they need to remain under the legal limit, and are not permitted to go back to work after consuming alcohol, as this contravenes the OHS Act. Alcohol consumption in the workplace increases the risk of accidents and creates unnecessary liability. We have all heard of payments to the wrong account or wrong amounts that have been authorised by the designated person and created havoc.  Ever wondered how that happened? It could be that a person was not concentrating on a Friday afternoon during one of those drinking days.

It is also important to ensure that the organisation can prove that they are both socially and professionally responsible when it comes to events involving alcohol. While social and bonding events are important and enjoyable, companies need to ensure they are not promoting the abuse of alcohol. A responsible approach should include an educational program to ensure employees are aware of the effects and consequences of alcohol consumption. 

Seminars can be an effective tool, however some form of tangible take home information can also be greatly beneficial. Educational booklets are an ideal solution, as they can provide information in an easy to understand manner, with images and charts, to help people understand how alcohol affects them and can be responsibly consumed. Some examples of information that could be incorporated into such booklets includes the volume of alcohol in different beverages that legally constitutes one drink, and how different body weights, body compositions and genders affected alcohol absorption. Practical examples can be included, such as the fact that 130ml of wine containing 12% alcohol is one drink, but if the wine has 14% alcohol then one drink is only 110ml. The importance of eating before or during alcohol consumption can also be emphasised, as this slows the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. Ultimately the goal is to ensure that employees know how to be safe while still enjoying the benefits of social and networking events. 

With a contradictory approach to alcohol consumption in the workplace, organisations may be inadvertently encouraging a culture of drinking. Ensuring that the correct policies are in place to cover this, and that social activities do not cause organisations to be in breach of the OHS Act, is essential. It is also critical to include an educational component to curbing alcohol abuse in the workplace and minimising the dangers and risk, and educational booklets can be a perfect tool to achieve this aim.

Editorial contacts
ALCO-Safe
Rhys Evans
Managing Director
Tel: 012 343 8114
Email: rhys@alcosafe.co.za

Evolution PR
Noncedo Mabuza
Tel: 011 462 0628
Email: noncedo@evolutionpr.co.za