1st Edition

Alcohol at Work Managing Alcohol Problems and Issues in the Workplace

Edited By Clive Tobutt Copyright 2011

    In the European Union many individuals will partake in drinking a little wine with their lunch or dinner to aid their enjoyment of the meal or as an appetizer for food. Alcohol is also a drug of dependence. Some individuals will drink too much and some of them will become addicted. Access to alcohol, binge drinking, and younger drinkers can lead to unsafe workplaces, absenteeism, fraud and criminal behaviour. Alcohol at Work is a definitive guide to the problem, exploring its nature and scale and providing a complete range of ideas and techniques to help create a policy in the workplace and develop appropriate and effective measures for monitoring and tackling alcohol abuse. The key collective message is solve the problem - take the alcohol, not the person, out of the workplace. In the UK alone, research puts the cost of alcohol abuse in the workplace at £2 billion a year. This is a must-have reference for human resource, occupational health and risk managers, as well as those involved in tackling criminal behaviour such as fraud and violence at work resulting from alcohol abuse and addiction.

    Contents: Foreword; Preface; Introduction to alcohol and the workplace, Clive Tobutt; The nature of the problem: examining the evidence, Clive Tobutt; Policy development for organisations, William Lloyd; Workplace testing, Rik Bijl, Marie-Claire Lambrechts and Behrouz Shahandeh; How to deal with the (problematic) use of alcohol in relation to job performance, Marie-Claire Lambrechts, Clive Tobutt, and Rik Bijl; Alcohol screening and assessment, Clive Tobutt; Alcohol interventions and treatment, Clive Tobutt; Communities and employers working together, Nils Gärdegård and Jan Eriksson; Index.

    Biography

    Clive Tobutt is a research associate at the Addictions Department, National Addiction Centre, King's College, University of London, UK. He is also a technical consultant to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on the development of guidelines for UN Member States for preventing alcohol and drugs in workplaces.

    ’...There is something for everyone here, and it is probable that it will be purchased as a reference book by the health and safety, occupational health or human resources departments. They should ensure that all managers have the opportunity to learn from the information and the structure of the book provides a template for internal training sessions...’ Addiction Journal '[The] chapters use summaries, questions and activities to help readers assimilate the contents. The activities range from being asked simply to reflect on a particular subject to the use of well-drawn case studies (with follow-up work via recommended reading). Together with a well-written and well-arranged text they make for a powerfully practical and thought provoking book.' RoSPA Occupational Safety & Health Journal