Workplace Factors
- Workplace Culture|
- Community & Individual Factors|
- Workplace Factors|
- Workplace Responses
Workplace factors can influence an employee’s alcohol use and patterns of alcohol consumption.
Workplace Customs
- Workplace subcultures and social networks e.g. pressure to join in regular drinking practices.
- Co-worker behavioural norms can be influential at work and in work-related settings.
- Administrative and management culture.
Workplace Conditions and Practices
- Physical and environmental factors:
- shift work, long and/or irregular hours leading to fatigue and/or challenges in balancing work and family life;
- isolated working patterns whereby employees are separated from family and friends;
- poor occupational safety and health practices;
- hazardous or dangerous work involving high risk of personal injury;
- high risk job;
- physical conditions of the workplace; and
- demanding or unrealistic timeframes.
- Job characteristics e.g. task complexity, poor job design, boring, repetitive or monotonous work; low job satisfaction; poor promotional opportunities and lack of job security.
- Inadequate training and/or supervision.
- Low group cohesion and work conflict with peers and/or supervisors.
- Discrimination, bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Workplace Controls
- Availability of, or access to alcohol in the workplace.
- Lack of workplace policies and procedures.
- Management style and supervision levels e.g. lack of accountability and supervision, poor performance management and lack of consistent performance standards
- Low visibility of workers e.g. working away from the workplace.
- Organisational change e.g. restructure, job transfer and redundancy.
- 1
Allsop,S., Phillips, M., and Calogero, C. (2001). Drugs and work: responding to alcohol and other drug problems in Australian workplaces. Melbourne. Australia.
- 2
National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction.(2006). Responding to Alcohol and Other Drug Related Issues in the Workplace: An Information and Resource Package. NCETA, Adelaide, South Australia.
- 3
Pidd, K. (2005). Workplace culture and alcohol use. Of Substance, 3(1), 18-21.
- 4
Pidd, K. and Roche, A. (2013). Policy Talk. Workplace alcohol and other drug programs: What is good practice? Australian Drug Foundation.
Page last updated: 20 July 2020