Conditions of Work and Increasingly High-risk Drinking Among People Employed in the Alcohol Service Industry: Applying Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health to a High-risk Population

The prevalence of risky alcohol consumption differs by occupation: heavy alcohol use is more common among people employed in the alcohol service industry compared with people employed in other sectors. Workplace factors and the psychosocial conditions of work may influence drinking behaviors. Recently developed Canadian guidelines on alcohol and health recognize that the harms of alcohol consumption lie along a continuum of risk. Using data collected from a survey of people employed in the alcohol service industry from Ontario, Canada (n = 583), this study applied the risk categories defined by Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health (CGAH) to estimate the prevalence of low (1–2 drinks/week), moderate (3–6 drinks/week), and increasingly high-risk drinking (≥ 7 drinks/week). The study then examined which psychosocial conditions of work were associated with CGAH risk level using multinomial logistic regression. Overall, 23.2% of respondents reported consuming 1–2 drinks/week, 21.7% reported consuming 3–6 drinks/week, and 33.4.% reported consuming ≥ 7 drinks/week. Burnout, emotional demands at work, demands for hiding emotions on the job, and work-life conflict were significantly associated with CGAH risk level in bivariate analysis. Emotional demands at work were significantly associated with increasingly high-risk drinking after adjusting for demographic, employment, and health-related measures. People employed in the alcohol service industry work in fast-paced, emotionally demanding jobs where alcohol is readily available. Employers can support their employees by recognizing the emotionally demanding nature of their work and promoting CGAH to encourage employees to reduce their weekly consumption of alcohol to lower risk levels.