Alcoholism costing millions a year

Press, 8 July 1976, Page 21

Alcoholism costing millions a year

The State Service Commission, which employs 5 to 6 per cent of the work force, is now running courses for those of supervisor and managerial rank on how to recognise alcohol dependency. KAREN FISHER has spoken to doctors, researchers, industrial nurses, and personnel officers to see what companies are doing and can do to help those they employ who have serious drinking problems:

New Zealand industry is losing s4sm each year because so many of New Zealand’s workers suffer from a particular healtn problem — alcoholism. The National Society of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction claims, with overseas confirmation, that five per cent of this country’s work force is affected by alcohol problems. And the 30,000 employees claimed to be sufferi rg from alcoholism are costing New Zealand at leas’ S4sm a year in terms of time lost, skills waster,, absenteeism, and accidents. Statistics show that 5.3 per cent of the population over the age of 15 drink to a hazardous level: that is, more than 100 millilitres of absolute alcohol a dav. This level of drinking causes physical damage because the body’s metabolism cannot cope with such a quantity of alcohol. Few alcoholics deny that their work rate suffers from their drinking and most admit that it causes absenteeism. Yet, industry has beer slow to recognise the fact that problem drinking and alcoholism are among the main causes of lower productivity. The reasons for absenteeism are always difficult ’o account for, but it is believed that about one quarter of all sickness leave taken by New Zealand workers is due to alcohol-related problems, says D’ N. Walker, of the Mahu Clinic at Sunnyside Hospital. It is sometimes impossible for the untrained person to distinguish be-

tween an alcoholic and a problem drinker. The alcoholic, according to the World Health Organisation, is the excessive drinker whose dependence on alcohol has got to the point where he is showing a noticeable mental disturbance or interference in his relations with other people in his social and working life, or a person who shows signs of these problems. The person with a drinking problem who is not necessarily an alcoholic drinks spirits neat, tops himself up before going to any social function. and if he does not have a supply of liquor at work, often excuses himself for short periods to get a drink, out of sight of his bosses or workmates. He has an erratic pace of work, tends to leave decisions to other people, and is inclined to be rude, irritable, and moody. The disease can often be recognised by those who live or work with the alcoholic before the alcoholic does. What they do about it depends upon their understanding of the problem. The easiest solution would be to dismiss such an inefficient and unreliable worker, but this is neither economic nor sensible. The first question his employer should be asking is whether the worker can be helped to become more efficient and reliable. Industry in New Zealand has turned a blind eye to the problem, but that is only a reflection of the attitude of the whole community to heavy

drinking, says Mr Roy Johnston, secretary of the National Society on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. Early detection is vitally important but the stigma surrounding the problem encourages the alcoholic, his employer, and his workmates to ignore or disregard the illness. If employers are aware of the problem, they certainly don’t care about it, said one alcoholic employee. "Covering up for the alcoholic is a common occurrence," says Dr Walker, “especially when the alcoholic is a popular fellow. This protection of the alcoholic from his employer by other workers is the worst thing that can be done for the alcoholic in the long run.” The industrial medical officer probably is in the best position to identify the alcoholic and encourage treatment. “They come to the nurse on some other pretext, or else they will not openly admit to the real problem they have,” says an industrial nurse. “They often come with health troubles that have resulted from their drinking habits.” Covering up is often blamed on the supervisor. There is a natural tendency for supervisors to "protect” their workers if they know that dismissal would result from the discovery, according to personnel officers. Even when there is a rehabilitation policy within the company there is still a reluctance in confronting the drinker with his problem.

Supervisors untrained in alcoholism are not aided by the fact that a person's drinking problem begins in a gradual fashion and may not be noticeable until it is already a serious problem. Also, the quality of the drinker’s work may not be inferior, or sufficiently inferior, to be easily noticeable. Alcoholics often make an extra effor. on a bad day to keep a good work record. Consequently, the developing alcoholic is often seen as “a good worker who drinks too much now and then” rather than as a person needing immediate help. An alcoholic can keep his output up — but he has to keep drinking to do it. As one alcoholic said: “I didn’t like drinking at work but I had to drink to do the work.” Employers’ attitudes vary from the knowledgeable and sympathetic — possibly an employer who has met the same problem — to those who don’t know and don’t care and don’t want to be told about the problem. But even amongst those who do consider the problem an important one, there is generally no hard and fast managerial policy. In most places, the fate of the alcoholic worker depends very much on his value to the company. If he is a loyal and valued worker, the company is more likely to help in his recovery, to pay the cost of his treatment, say personnel officers. His problem may also be handled but not solved, in a discreet and more convenient manner which avoids any facing up to

the real problem by either the alcoholic or his employer. The worker would probably be moved to work in an area where he cannot endanger himself or anyone else. But the more common response is: “An employee’s personal problems are not the concern of the company until his work is affected” — even though employers admit, they can often see the signs of heavy drinking and deterioration. But Mr Johnston says that the only way to reach most alcoholic employees is to have a positive company programme. “The alcoholic cannot act with intent and choice. He is caught up in an addiction. The essential characteristics of his illness are that he is disabled from doing anything positive about his illness himself. Successful programmes are those that have an aggressive outreach.” Some companies do not consider it necessary to have programmes or counsellors because they say there is already community heln for the alcoholic. “But if a worker is valuable to his employers he is probably worth the cost and inconvenience of rehabilitation to the company,” says Dr Walker. The problem may be a bigger one than it seems for researchers believe the present figures of those suffering from drinking problems are conservative. One alcoholic undergoing treatment says that 'he worked in a small factory which employed 80 workers. He considered that five of these were definitely alcoholics.

The incidence of alcoholism seems to be higher in shift workers and hig h e r-income groups. Shift workers are thought to be prone to the disease because of their irregular hours and because their free time does not fit in with their friend’s social hours, says' Dr Walker. Shift workers are tempted to drink on their way to work. Company rules often leave a good margin for the alcoholic to indulge his habit. One alcoholic said he had liked working for a company where sick leave could be accumulated and then taken in one lump with no questions asked: it allowed him plenty'of time for a binge. A study done on alcoholic patients at Hanmer Springs in 1969 and 1970 found that 19 per cent were managerial executives or professional workers. Another 14 per cent were skilled workers. One fifth of them had completed some form of higher education, and more than half had secondary schooling. Construction sites seem to be a particularly troublesome spot for the alcoholic. On the sites that are away from town, with little or no entertainment other than the whisky bottle, excessive drinking after work is the norm. “Men would drink themselves paralytic and spend the whole of the next day lying in their cabins, or wherever they had collapsed the evening before,” says one alcoholic who has worked on construction sites. Some companies do feel

a moral obligation to their workers. A policy becoming more common in New Zealand is a strict enforcement of the rule that no liquor be allowed on the company premises, with even Christmas parties being held outside the office, according to one personnel officer. And some employers are certainly concerned about the. welfare of their alcoholic employees, as far as rehabilitation goes. From a random’ sample of 24 alcoholics undergoing treatment at the Mahu Clinic at Sunnyside Hospital, 16 had their job to go back to after the three months’ treament. But the well-stocked liquor cabinet, apparentlynecessary for “entertaining clients, is still a regular feature of many managerial offices. There are many factors involved in the addiction to alcohol — biochemical, psychological, the social class of the person, age, sex, race, and culture. And its estimated that 45 per cent of alcoholics had an alcoholic parent. According to an American doctor, there are three main causes of heavy drinking at the different age levels — anxiety in adolesence, depression in middle age, loneliness in old age. “The worst thing in the long run is to protect alcoholics and do nothing for them: it only perpetuates the situation,” says Dr T. E. Hall, superintendent of Sunnyside Hospital. “The solution is to create a climate in which the staff know that if they come forward with their problem they will be helped — without loss of dignity.”