WATCHING THE WORLD U.K.'S NEW ALCOHOL AWARENESS

With Roger Vielvoye from London Oil companies around the world are beefing up policies designed to control and monitor drinking on the job. Exxon Corp. has been leading the way. With the Exxon Valdez experience as a catalyst for change, its worldwide affiliates have tailored campaigns to meet different social conditions in countries in which they operate. In Britain, local affiliate Esso U.K. plc, has successfully introduced new drinking policies alongside a nationwide alcohol awareness at

March 4, 1991

3 min read

Oil companies around the world are beefing up policies designed to control and monitor drinking on the job.

Exxon Corp. has been leading the way. With the Exxon Valdez experience as a catalyst for change, its worldwide affiliates have tailored campaigns to meet different social conditions in countries in which they operate.

In Britain, local affiliate Esso U.K. plc, has successfully introduced new drinking policies alongside a nationwide alcohol awareness at work campaign supported by government, employers, and unions.

Britain is a country where lunchtime drinking, particularly among white collar staff in city offices, had been traditional. And oil industry offices were no exception. U.K. companies have in the past taken a more relaxed attitude toward drinking than similar organizations in France and Germany, and the volume of lunchtime drinking in Britain would shock many U.S. employers. However, U.K. companies normally do not have a problem with drug abuse.

On the job drinking among staff in manufacturing plants is much more strictly controlled, and in such hazardous activities as refining, petrochemicals, and offshore production, the U.K. oil industry exercises very tight controls.

CHANGES IN ATTITUDES

Esso U.K. Human Resources Manager Mike Bamforth said radical changes in attitudes toward alcohol at the company were part of the overall approach to safety. During a 6 month period employees had been shown the dangers of drinking at work.

Seminars for staff and management made use of outside physiologists, and specially published booklets on alcohol and drug misuse were circulated throughout the company.

One of the central planks of the new policy is establishment of designated positions where any impairment from alcohol could endanger other employees, public, the environment, or the company's financial performance. Of Esso's 4,000 employees, 900 fall into the designated category, mostly jobs in refineries and transportation. A number of key executive positions are also included.

Workers in the designated areas are carefully screened for alcohol problems and a clean bill of health is a requirement for the job. They are then required to give random urine samples. Bamforth said there were no problems in implementing the tests-a considerable achievement in a country where this sort of sampling at work is regarded with considerable suspicion.

Esso has also broken new ground by insisting that all company contractors, from road transportation to chartered shipping, abide by the same rules as the company's employees.

LUNCHTIME HABITS CHANGE

Lunchtime drinking is only one manifestation of alcohol problems, but it does provide a good barometer of employee attitudes on the subject. Bamforth reports the volume of lunchtime drinking in the company has declined dramatically.

Esso has certainly been helped by its move from London headquarters ringed with pubs to new campus style offices in Leatherhead, south of the city. The nearest pub to the Leatherhead complex is a car ride away, and Bamforth reports that most employees now prefer to eat in the alcohol free dining rooms rather than at the pub.