Alcohol is the most consumed drug in the UK after caffeine. According to the NHS 2018 statistics report on alcohol, there were 337,000 hospital admissions and 5,507 deaths caused by the substance. It’s interesting to know, in the same year, the deaths caused by heroin was less than half of alcohol related deaths.
Out of the three stimulants that I have consumed, which are alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, my decision to withdraw or cut back from each have been for various reasons. Deciding to quit my cigarette habit was a transparent decision, it was quit or be killed. Cutting back on caffeine is something I dabble in when my body needs extra hydration, and alcohol, well, because i’ve always classed myself as a social drinker, and to me, sober and social equalled boring and quitting never crossed my mind. Why would it? Alcohol makes ‘it’ more fun!
President of the Westminster and Holborn Law Society, Laura Uberoi, recently released her first podcast in the series of ‘Challenging Approaches to Alcohol in the Workplace’. Laura spoke to Laura Willoughby MBE and Kieran Pende, and together they shared their experiences and thoughts relating to alcohol in the workplace. I found it interesting to learn that a survey conducted by the Junior Lawyer Division proved that over 93% of responding lawyers were stressed in their roles, and Laura Uberoi believes that the professions relationship with alcohol contributes to these finding. I also learnt that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 13 men have been sexually harassed at work social events. This took me back to my earlier statement, “alcohol makes it more fun!”, and I came to the conclusion that this is the wrong reason to drink.
Although there is no denying that these statistics are far from exemplarily, I am pleased that the social responsibility and wellbeing of lawyers seems to be on the rise. Wellness for Law UK hosts annual conferences, where professionals share research, information and best practice to promote wellness in the workplace, and the networking events that would usually dominate evenings and doused with booze are sharing the social scene with breakfast and lunch socials; it seems that the people who are are focused on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, have commitments to children, live outside of the city and want to drive home and have religious beliefs are finally being taken into consideration.
Being part of a top Barristers Chambers in the City of London, i’m thrilled that we already host a great deal of alcohol free events for members and staff. As Laura Uberoi says “Changing the way we host social events gives us the permission to try something new”.
I endeavour to be part of a team and community that focuses on positive change and developing minority groups. I’m choosing to withhold from alcohol consumption at business events in order to play a part in making the law industry a place where everyone can feel safe and secure.
Want more from this this topic? Please leave your comments below to discuss or learn more about social responsibilities in the workplace.
Other interesting blog posts:
“We drink when we’re in good company and we drink because we’re in bad. We drink because we are happy and we drink because we are sad. We drink to honour of the good memories but also to forget when we’re mad“
