Background

Work health and safety risks come from the effects that alcohol and other drugs (including medicines) can have on behaviour. The impairment of behaviour can cause affected workers to injure themselves or others. For example, drugs and alcohol may affect coordination and cause drowsiness and therefore driving a vehicle or operating machinery is dangerous.

Workers 'under the influence' present many possible issues including:

• illness and/or absenteeism
• dizziness
• blurred vision
• slurred speech
• extreme emotional highs and lows
• alertness, co-ordination and motor control may be affected
• workers may be drowsy or fall asleep at work
• workers may suddenly become aggressive or violent
• judgement or self-control may be affected
• hangovers including headaches, shaking, vomiting and nausea
• putting co-workers in the difficult position of being expected to cover for unsafe work practices or having to report a fellow worker
• preoccupation with obtaining and using substances or the illegal sale of alcohol or other drugs while at work
• damage to property or equipment
• negative publicity for a business
• loss of productivity
• workers who are injured at work while affected by alcohol or other drugs may not be eligible for workers compensation.

Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) have a duty to manage health and safety risks. Under the Act, workers also have duties, including a duty to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and the health and safety of others. Consequently, PCBUs and workers must manage risks to health and safety posed by alcohol and drugs. For PCBUs this might include setting specific policies for the use of alcohol and drugs that reflect the needs of their workplace.

Download the infographic version of this snapshot here:

National data

The National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), which is conducted every three years by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, is a valuable source of data on the use of alcohol and drugs in Australia. The most recent NDSHS in 2019 collected information from almost 23,000 people across Australia. In the 2019 NDSHS, 38% of employed Australians reported drinking at levels that increase their risk of alcohol-related disease or injury[1] and 16.4% of Australians reported having used illicit drugs in the previous year (NADK n.d.; AIHW 2020a).

The 2019 NDSHS also collected data on the frequency Australians missed work due to alcohol or drug consumption with 2.3% of Australians reporting having missed at least one day of work in the previous three months due to alcohol consumption. The number rose to 9.5% among those who consumed at least 11 standard drinks in a single occasion monthly (AIHW 2020b). 0.8% of Australian workers reported having missed at least one day of work in the previous three months due to the use of illicit drugs (AIHW 2020c).

In the 2016 NDSHS, 9.9% of Australians who used illicit drugs in the past 12 months reported having gone to work under the influence of drugs during that period. Of those Australians who consumed less than 2 standard drinks on average per day, 1.9% reported working under the influence of alcohol in the past 12 months. Amongst Australians who reported drinking more than 2 standard drinks per day on average, the number rose to 10.3% (AIHW 2017a; AIHW 2017b)

Workers in certain industries, such as the hospitality industry, are especially likely to report working under the influence of alcohol or drugs (Pidd et al. 2011). Industries which are male dominated and have younger workforces, for instance, construction, are more likely to have workers who engage in risky drinking or drug use (Roche et al. 2020; Chapman et al. 2021; NADAK n.d.).

The total cost to Australian workplaces due to alcohol and drugs resulting from absenteeism and other productivity losses is estimated in the billions (Whetton et al. 2021; Roche et al. 2015).

Along with the financial costs to workplaces, the use of alcohol and drugs by workers negatively impacts on other workers. A survey of Australian workers found that 8% have been negatively affected at work in the past twelve months by their co-worker’s alcohol consumption, with 3.5% reporting having to work extra hours because of their co-workers’ drinking (Dale and Livingstone 2010).

Unfortunately, there has been limited research into the contribution of alcohol and drugs to workplace deaths and injuries in Australia. One study (Pidd et al. 2006) attempted to investigate the relationship between alcohol and workplace injuries through an examination of hospital admission records, concluding that approximately 8% of work-related fall and vehicle traffic injuries in Australia were alcohol related in 2001-02. A study (McNeilly et al. 2010) of work-related deaths[2] reported to the coroner in Victoria between 2001 and 2006 where a post-mortem toxicology screening was performed found that a positive result for alcohol and/or drugs was recorded in 22% of such deaths (79 deaths in total). Of the 79 deaths, the corner attributed alcohol or drugs as a contributory cause of death in 12 cases.

Even in the absence of specific data connecting alcohol and drugs to worker deaths and injuries, it is possible to draw inferences about the connection between the two. The largest single cause of work-related deaths in Australia is vehicle collision, responsible for 38% of all work-related deaths between 2017 and 2021 (SWA 2022). Of these work-related vehicle collision deaths, more than two-thirds occurred on public roads. We know that alcohol and drugs are contributing factors in a significant proportion of road deaths. In 2020, 13% of road deaths involved a driver who had a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit and 16% involved a driver with illicit drugs in their system (BITRE 2021).

ACT data

In undertaking compliance and enforcement activities WorkSafe ACT inspectors have issued several notices to PCBUs for failing to manage alcohol and drug risks. In the current and previous financial year, PCBUs have received notices for failing to develop safe systems of work regarding alcohol consumption by workers and for failing to protect the health of workers from the use of nicotine products.

Alcohol and drugs have also been contributing factors in several notifiable incidents reported to WorkSafe ACT during the same period, including physical assaults on workers and traffic accidents involving workers.

WorkSafe ACT’s response

WorkSafe ACT has published a guide to the risks of alcohol and drugs in the workplace on its website.

In addition, WorkSafe ACT has published and continues to implement various strategies related to the risk of alcohol and drugs in the workplace, including Managing Work-Related Psychosocial Strategy 2021-23, Managing Work-Related Violence and Aggression Plan 2021-2, and Managing Work-Related Sexual Harassment Plan 2021-23.

Resources for PCBUs and workers

Safe Work Australia, Drugs and Alcohol

National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, WorkLife

- Worklife has been designed to help workplaces respond to alcohol and drug issues and to develop alcohol and drug policies. The website contains downloadable fact sheets, how-to guides, toolbox talks, posters, handouts and videos. WorkLife is a collaboration between National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction and the South Australian Government,

Safe Work NSW, Alcohol and other drugs in the workplace guide

ACT Health, Alcohol and Drug Services

- If you or a colleague need support, ACT Health provides free counselling and support for people experiencing alcohol and/or drug related issues.

The National Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline is available 24/7 on 1800 250 015 and also provides free and confidential advice, support, information, counselling and referral to services.

Lifeline also provides free 24/7 crisis support and specific information relating to alcohol and drugs.

References

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2020a) National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019, accessed 17 November 2022.  

AIHW (2020b) Data tables: National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2019 - 3 Alcohol supplementary tables, table 3.45, accessed 17 November 2022.

AIHW (2020c) National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016 – 4 Illicit use of drugs supplementary tables, table 4.33, accessed 17 November 2022.

AIHW (2017a) National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016 – Data tables: Chapter 5 Illicit use of drugs, table 5.67, accessed 1 December 2022.

AIHW (2017b) National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2016 – Data tables: Chapter 4 Alcohol, table 4.36, accessed 1 December 2022.

BITRE (Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics) (2022) Road trauma Australia 2021 statistical summary, accessed November 17 2022.

Chapman J, Roche A, Durasingam V, Phillips B, Finnane J and Pidd K (2021) ‘Working at heights: patterns and predictors of illicit drug use in construction workers’, Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 28(1): 67-75.

Dale, C.E and Livingstone M.J (2010) ‘The Burden of Alcohol Drinking on Co-Workers in the Australian Workplace’, Medical Journal of Australia, 193(3): 138-140.

Gates P, Grove R and Copeland J. ‘Impact of substance use on the Australian workforce’, Journal of Addiction Prevention 1(2): 6.

McNeilly B, Ibrahim JE, Bugeja L and Ozanne-Smith J (2010) ‘The prevalence of work-related deaths associated with alcohol and drugs in Victoria, Australia’, 2001–6’, Injury Prevention 16(6): 423-428.

NADK (National Alcohol and Drugs Knowledge Database) (n.d.) Alcohol and Employment, accessed November 23 2022.

Pidd K, Roche A and Buisman-Pijlman F (2011) ‘Intoxicated workers: findings from a national Australian survey’, Addiction 106(9): 1623-1633.

Pidd K, Berry J, Harrison J.E, Roche AM, Driscoll T.R and Newson R.S (2006). Alcohol and Work: Patterns of Use, Workplace Culture and Safety. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, accessed November 19 2022.

Roche A, Chapman J, Duraisingam V, Phillips B, Finnane J and Pidd K (2020) ‘Construction workers’ alcohol use, knowledge, perceptions of risk and workplace norms’, Drugs and Alcohol Review 39(7): 941-949.

Roche A, Pidd K, Kostadinov V (2015) ‘Alcohol and drug-related absenteeism: a costly problem’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health 40(3): 236-238.

SWA (Safe Work Australia) (n.d.) Drugs and Alcohol, accessed 17 November 2022.

SWA (2022) Work-Related Traumatic Injury Fatalities Australia 2021, accessed 17 November 2022.

Whetton S, Tait R.J, Gilmore W, Dey T, Agramunt S, Abdul Halim S., McEntee A, Mukhtar A, Roche A, Allsop S. and Chikritzhs T (2021) Examining the Social and Economic Costs of Alcohol Use in Australia: 2017/18, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, accessed 17 November 2022.