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November 8, 2013

Campaign calls for identification of ‘risky drinkers’

 

 

A campaign group is calling for employers to be allowed to test their workers for alcohol misuse to identify ‘risky drinkers’.
 
The Alcohol Health Network, which was set up to tackle alcohol misuse, wants employees to take a standardised test that identifies whether or not they are drinking too much.
 
Don Shenker, the body’s director and founder, wrote in the British Medical Journal that if problems were identified, employers could provide advice to help prevent problem drinking at an early stage.
 
Shenker believes that by offering staff the use of the test and providing brief advice as a self-awareness initiative at work, it may help to prevent problems with alcohol early on.
 
He said: “Staff who may be concerned about their drinking or whose level of drinking is not yet apparent to them, can assess the risks their drinking poses to their health, and take appropriate action.”
 
Shenker added: “Employers need to be convinced of the business case for prevention rather than cure — that is, that it is ultimately more cost effective to prevent and reduce harmful drinking in the general working population compare with the costs of managing dependent drinking among a minority of staff.”
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