This study aimed to estimate the cost of alcohol’s harm to others in workplaces and to explore factors linked with the cost of the second-hand harm of alcohol in workplaces.
The past-year prevalence of harm from co-workers’ alcohol use was 17.8% among the employed population. In total, 28.8 million hours of extra work was attributed to co-workers’ alcohol use in 1 year.
The cost of these extra work hours was 1.8 billion Thai baht (57.8 million USD).
The findings indicate that alcohol imposes a significant cost on co-workers of alcohol consumers.

Author

Udomsak Saengow, Surasak Chaiyasong, Jiraluck Nontarak, Surasak Saokaew, Ali Artaman, Polathep Vichitkunakorn, Orratai Waleewong

Citation

Saengow U, Chaiyasong S, Nontarak J, Saokaew S, Artaman A, Vichitkunakorn P, Waleewong O. Estimated cost of extra work hours from co-workers' drinking in Thailand. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2023 Oct 25. doi: 10.1111/dar.13768. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37881158.

Source
Drug and Alcohol Review
Release date
25/10/2023

Estimated cost of extra work hours from co-workers’ drinking in Thailand

Original paper

Abstract

Introduction

Alcohol’s harm to others (AHTO) in workplaces has received little attention. A few studies from high-income countries have estimated the cost of AHTO in workplaces, while data from the low- and middle-income countries are lacking.

This study aimed to estimate the cost of AHTO in workplaces and to explore factors linked with the cost of the second-hand harm of alcohol in workplaces.

Methods

Data were taken from 1392 employed respondents who participated in a survey conducted in Thailand from September 2012 to March 2013.

The cost of extra work hours was estimated from the hourly wage and extra hours of work.

The hourly wage was computed by converting monthly income to weekly income and dividing weekly income by weekly working hours. The gamma regression with log link was used to determine factors associated with the cost of extra working hours.

Results

17.8%
Prevalence of second-hand alcohol harm among working population
17.8% of the working population in Thailand have been harmed by a co-workers’ alcohol use in the past year.
16
Extra hours of work to compensate for alcohol-related issues in the workplace
On average, an affected worker worked 16.0 extra hours due to co-workers’ alcohol use.
58 Mn
Economic cost of extra working hours due to alcohol harm
The cost of extra work hours caused by a co-worker’s alcohol use was $57.8 million.
  • The past-year prevalence of harm from co-workers’ alcohol use was 17.8% among the employed population.
  • The prevalence of working extra hours was 6.1%.
  • On average, an affected worker worked 16.0 extra hours due to co-workers’ alcohol use.
  • In total, 28.8 million hours of extra work was attributed to co-workers’ alcohol use in 1 year.
  • The cost of these extra work hours was 1.8 billion Thai baht (57.8 million USD).
  • Age, education and type of employment were associated with the cost of working extra hours.

Discussion and conclusions

The burden of alcohol in workplaces extends beyond alcohol consuming workers.

The findings indicate that alcohol imposes a significant cost on co-workers of alcohol consumers.

Source Website: Wiley Online Library