'Workers Suffer 17 Million Hangovers A Year'

Hungover workers have taken 17 million "sickies" in the last 12 months as binge drinking now accounts for more than one-in-seven of all sick days, a new report reveals.

Health experts warned the proportion of sick leave caused by hangovers has more than tripled in the last three years as boozing costs the economy £6.4 billion each year through absenteeism (£1.8 million), replacing staff (£2.1 billion) and premature death (£2.5 billion).

They say 17 million working days were lost over the last 12 months because employees were too hungover to come to work, and hangovers accounted for 15 per cent of absences.

Young, poorly-educated men who are single or divorced and suffer from stress or depression are the most likely to become alcoholics, according to the report.

Frank Soodeen, a spokesman for Alcohol Concern, said: "Men aged 16 to 24 are most likely to drink because they're still growing up and then suddenly they're allowed to drink.

"I think parents aren't encouraging children to think about what their relationship with alcohol should be, and then suddenly they have access to it.

"It also has to do with how people socialise. If they have a partner, there will be evenings at home, and they won't be out every night drinking."

Among men, landlords and bar staff are the most likely to die from drinking-related accidents and diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Other professions at high risk are doctors, those who work at sea, lawyers, soldiers and cooks.

Among women, those in artistic or literary professions are most at risk, followed by bar staff and hairdressers.

Mr Soodeen said: "There are a variety of reasons that drinking has increased. The key factor is that women are drinking more because they are now part of the workplace and they have money to spend on alcohol.

"We develop social contacts by drinking, and it's part of working culture. We are all leading very stressful lives, partly because of our jobs, and alcohol is a way that some people try to alleviate that.

"It's not limited to certain people, it's spread across different groups, so it can affect anyone. It's a pretty universal thing."

Working conditions that contribute to heavy drinking include long hours, high risk of injury, tight deadlines and job insecurity.

At least 10 per cent of accidents in the workplace are directly caused by a worker being too drunk or hungover to function properly.

Mr Soodeen said: "I think one of the key things in dealing with a colleague or employer who has a drink problem is for the person who tries to intervene to approach the person in a supportive way. We live in a culture that is very comfortable with drinking but very uncomfortable with alcoholism.

"It denotes a lack of control, and we like to think that we're in control of our lives, so to admit dependency is difficult."

He added: "The problem is that we all agree that there's nothing wrong with drinking moderately, but we don't appreciate the factors that drive people to drink more. It can be to keep a sense of boredom or unhappiness away, and that dissatisfaction can be caused by our jobs.

"I do think people drink more in the UK because people really aren't aware of the long term impact you can have on your health. People know if they smoke you run the risk of health problems, but alcohol is still seen as innocuous.

"Binge drinking does have a huge impact on your long and short term health. A high number of casualty admissions are alcohol related. People who drink and smoke run a huge risk of neck cancers like throat cancer.

"The good news is that with many conditions they can be mitigated if you stop drinking completely, but no-one wants to do that.

"The recommended limits of three units a day for women and four for men are the levels at which alcohol doesn't have an impact on your health. People who say they need more than that to get an effect from alcohol do have a problem."

National News