Drinking While Working Has Increased With Stay-At-Home Orders In Effect
Most workplaces have a policy of forbidding their workers from drinking alcohol while on the job or coming to work while clearly inebriated. Such policies are put in place to ensure that the workplace is safe for all employees and reduce the chance of an on-the-job accident or other mishaps which can cause an injury.
According to a recent report appearing on the NBC Miami website on Tuesday, April 14th, because of the Coronavirus outbreak and with many workers performing their day-to-day duties while working from home, nearly 22% of those surveyed from Florida admit to drinking while on the job.
The study which was conducted by Alcohol.org also found that 1 in 5 of the 3,000 participants admitted that they also stockpiled alcohol to help them cope with the long periods of self-isolation that has been asked of them in hopes of lessening the number of patients infected by the Coronavirus.
While working from home reduces the chance of an occasional drink being discovered by an employer, there is still the potential for accidents and additional health issues. The U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome M. Adams, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Public Health advise that one of the increased risks is a weakened immune system, which can lead to a higher susceptibility to pneumonia and leaving a person immunocompromised. A person may become more at risk to the Coronavirus.
Even when working from home, it’s a good idea to maintain company policies of not drinking while on the job.