Evaluation of a workshop to address drugs and alcohol in the workplace

Abstract

Purpose Risky alcohol and other drug (AOD) use is ubiquitous in some workplace cultures, and is associated with considerable risks to health, safety and productivity. A workplace drug and alcohol first aid program was developed to support supervisors and managers to recognize and respond appropriately to AOD problems, increase knowledge of AOD and reduce the stigma associated with AOD. The purpose of this paper is to undertake an evaluation to assess the program’s efficacy. Design/methodology/approach A self-report survey was administered to program participants before (T1), immediately after (T2) and three months following program completion (T3). Changes in alcohol/drug-related knowledge, role adequacy, motivation and personal views were examined using repeated measures ANOVA. Findings A total of 109 participants took part in the program, with only 26 completing scores at all three time points. Mean scores increased significantly (p<0.05) between T1 and T2 for knowledge (12.7–16.0), role adequacy (11.8–17.4), motivation (9.7–10.4) and personal views (9.0–9.6). Significant improvements were maintained at T3 for knowledge (15.1) and role adequacy (17.3). Practical implications Drug and alcohol first aid programs offer a potentially valuable initiative to improve the knowledge, skills and understanding of managers and supervisors in tackling workplace AOD risks, associated stigma and improving help seeking. Originality/value Workplace programs for managers can facilitate organization-wide responses to the reduction of AOD-related problems, increase implementation of appropriate policy and interventions, minimize associated harms and stigma and reduce negative imposts on productivity and profit.

Effects of a multi-component alcohol prevention program in the workplace on hazardous alcohol use among employees

“…However, this difference was not statistically significant. Similar results were observed after adjusting the association for sociodemographic characteristics, in line with previous literature [ 19 , 37 – 39 ]. While we initially identified policy awareness among employees as a potential mediator, our study did not provide any support for this.…”

“…Second, randomization ensured that the differences between the control and intervention groups at the organizational level were small, which minimized the risk of selection bias [ 43 ]. Third, the follow-up period was longer than in many other studies examining the effectiveness of workplace-based prevention programs [ 19 , 37 – 39 ]. Finally, this study applied multilevel modeling which, unlike approaches using pooled estimates of the control and intervention groups, accounts for organizational differences.…”

“…drinking outside of the workplace [ 10 ], and ambiguous boundaries between working hours and leisure time [ 41 ]). Managers might, despite the intervention being effective in improving their inclination to intervene, still lack the knowledge and practical skills needed to identify and intervene in response to employees with hazardous alcohol use [ 37 ]. Second, it should be noted that the intervention did not affect all three indicators of policy awareness in the same way.…”

Evaluation of a workplace alcohol prevention program targeted on managers’ inclination to initiate early alcohol intervention

“…Given that the organizational alcohol policy was tailored according to each organization’s culture and values, the emergence of new workplace routines and cultures could have facilitated implementation processes at the organizational level, by allowing managers an opportunity to reassess their behavior according to the new workplace context [ 33 ]. The tailored organizational alcohol policy could also positively alter managers’ attitudes in handling hazardous consumption in the long run, by tackling issues at the highest level within the organization [ 29 ]. Although the current study was not able to obtain information regarding structural changes within organizations, this was partly accounted for in the analyses by including fixed effects.…”

Workplace alcohol prevention: are managers' individual characteristics associated with organisational alcohol policy knowledge and inclination to initiate early alcohol interventions?

“…Increased awareness of organisational alcohol policy may be insufficient to alter behaviours, such as act upon concerns about hazardous alcohol consumption. Therefore, improving managers' confidence by increasing their skills may be an important component for a successful implementation (Roche et al, 2019) as it can lead to higher inclination to initiate early alcohol interventions.…”