Office culture can influence drinking Workplace attitudes toward alcohol consumption can influence employees’ drinking habits, according to a recent study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Rates of alcohol consumption were significantly lower in companies that discouraged social drinking than in companies that were more tolerant of it, the study says. “We found that employees at companies that most discouraged social drinking were 45% less likely to be heavy drinkers than those in workplaces with the most liberal attitudes to drinking, after taking into account other factors that influence drinking levels,” says Dr. Benjamin Amick, one of the authors of the study and scientific director of the Institute for Work & Health. Researchers surveyed more than 5,000 employees from 16 cross-sector U.S. organizations. Employees were asked how often, when and where they drank alcohol. They were also asked questions such as whether they thought drinking with colleagues after work boosted workplace morale and if drinking with clients was good for business. Supervisors and managers were also asked about the drinking cultures of their workgroups. The researchers found that those less likely to drink were women, people with strong religious beliefs, and those who cohabited. Smokers and workers under age 35 were more likely to drink. According to the researchers, workplace drinking culture significantly impacts employee drinking behaviours and public health efforts to reduce drinking-related problems should target workplaces. The research team for this study also included scientists from the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston, Tex.; the International Institute for Society and Health at University College, London, U.K.; and John Snow Inc. Research and Training Institute in Boston, Mass. Rising trend in sick days The number of work absences due to illness or disability has increased steadily over the past 10 years, according to a recent Statistics Canada report. The report, Trends and seasonality in absenteeism, finds that the total number of employees failing to report for work rose from 431,000 in 1997 to 758,000 in 2006. The report cites an aging workforce and improvements in sick-leave entitlement as the main reasons for the trend. Part-week absences — that is, employees off work sick for part of the week — have been driving the overall increase. Between 1997 and 2006, part-week absences more than doubled from 232,000 to 496,000. The number of employees missing a full week of work rose by 33% during that period, from 199,000 to 262,000. Female employees showed a higher incidence of both types of absences compared with male employees. And not surprisingly, illness-related absences, particularly partweek ones, were highest during the winter months between December and February, likely due to the prevalence of communicable diseases, such as colds and flu bugs. |
e-Course on office safety The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is offering an e-course to office managers and supervisors to help them prevent workplace injuries and illnesses and meet occupational health and safety legislation. According to the CCOHS, many office workers are injured or become ill every year because of hazards found in offices, and some of these can be as painful and costly as the hazards found in industrial work environments. The hour-long e-course, Health and Safety for Office Managers, provides a practical introduction to office safety, outlining potential hazards and how to prevent them. Topics covered include ergonomics, lighting, indoor air quality, stress, slips, trips and falls. The course is available in both English and French. Blue-collar jobs have highest injury risk Nearly 75% of the 630,000 Canadians who sustained an activity-limiting, non-fatal work injury in 2003 were men in blue-collar jobs, according to a recent Statistics Canada report. As many as 460,000 men suffered an on-the-job injury in 2003, compared with 170,000 women, the report says. This amounted to an overall workplace injury rate of 4%. About one in 10 trade, transport or equipment operations workers sustained an on-the-job injury that year — more than four times the rate (2%) of injury among Canadians employed in business, finance, administration, social science, education, government service or religion. People employed in processing, manufacturing or primary industries were also at higher risk of a work injury, relative to the total workforce. For women, the likelihood of injury was significantly elevated in the sales and service occupational category. In both the white- and blue-collar sectors, men’s injury rate significantly exceeded women’s — men were about twice as likely than women to sustain an occupational injury. In white-collar occupations, healthcare workers were more likely to be injured (3%), compared with all white-collar workers combined (2%). Those in business, finance or administration had a significantly lower likelihood of injury. Interestingly, smoking, body weight and overall health also seemed to impact a person’s risk of sustaining an injury on the job. Obese women had nearly twice the odds of being injured at work compared with workers of normal weight, although this relationship did not emerge among men. Also at increased risk were individuals who smoked on a daily basis and workers with three or more chronic conditions. Migraine, arthritis and multiple chemical sensitivities were among the specific conditions associated with an increased risk of injury. |
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