The Dangers of Showing Up at Work Drunk

Discover the dangers of showing up at work drunk.

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Alcohol may be legal, but its effects on anyone who abuses them are sometimes even worse than the effects of using substances deemed illegal by governments.

With Australia’s drinking culture, alcoholism is a natural end result, and many alcoholics are actually showing up at work drunk. Being drunk is already an unhealthy thing to be, but showing up at work drunk is far unhealthier. It is downright dangerous. Listed below are the dangers of showing up at work drunk.

Workplace health and safety is compromised

This is the biggest danger of showing up at work drunk, especially when the drunk worker operates heavy machinery, drives vehicles for the company, or is assigned to any safety-sensitive position. An intoxicated person at work is highly likely to get involved in workplace accidents, and that makes them a danger to themselves and everyone else in the workplace. Without a drug safety program in place, workplace healthy and safety could be compromised.

They could get into altercations

Alcohol affects people in so many ways. Making them less inhibited is one of those effects. As such, people under the influence of alcohol are more likely to take risks not only with what they do, but also with what they say. They could get very offensive in words and in deed, which, in turn, could get them into physical altercations at work.

They could commit grievous errors in their work

Alcohol impairs a person’s ability to make sound decisions and judgments. When employees show up at the office drunk and are actually allowed to get on with their jobs, the quality of the work that they do is at serious risk.

With their decision-making ability seriously impaired, employees who work while drunk could make grievous errors in their work, whether it involves numbers, design elements or simple written communications and reports.

A drunk person at work can also be a problem should he or she picks up the phone when a client calls, and proceeds to talk to the client the way you’d imagine a drunk person to talk on the phone. A business could lose clients this way, which is something employers would do their best to avoid.

The reputation of the business could be ruined

Let’s assume that a drunk employee wasn’t prevented from drunkenly talking to a client, and that client got so enraged that he or she decided to terminate his or her business with that organisation. It is very likely that that very angry client will talk to other people about the reason business ties with a certain company were severed. Whatever the intention of the client talking about that incident, you can be sure that all that talk can only serve to tarnish the reputation of that very organisation. It goes without saying that a business with a ruined reputation is going to have a hard time finding new clients.

Drunkenness in the workplace should never be allowed in any way, shape, or form. That’s why every workplace should have a clear workplace drug and alcohol policy in place so that any problem that stems out of a worker’s drunkenness can be dealt with swiftly and effectively.

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