Hospitality workers risk health with smoking and drinking habits

Employers in the hospitality industry are being encouraged to do more to look after the health of their valuable staff after a study revealed workers in the sector are smoking and drinking too much.

The WorkSafe Victoria study of about 6,000 free, 15-minute WorkHealth checks provided to employees in the accommodation and food services industry showed that one in four workers smoke (24.6 per cent) and almost half drink alcohol at risky levels (43.3%).

The smoking rate compares to a figure of 14.4 per cent for the wider Victorian community, according to fugures released yesterday by Quit Victoria.

WorkHealth Ambassador, Wayne Kayler-Thomson said that given the skills shortage in the industry employeers should be looking at how they might help their staff live healthier lives.

He said the rigours of working in a shift-based environment places additional demands on employees, having a negative impact on their health.

“Hospitality is a 24-7 industry with long and at times unsociable hours, he said.

"It can be a high-stress environment and workers need to unwind at the end of their shifts, which often leads to late nights and poor lifestyle choices like smoking and drinking alcohol excessively.

“Given the skills shortage in the industry, employers should be concerned about the impact these trends are having on performance and productivity and look at how they can support employees to be healthy.”

Industry action

Head chef at The Smith, Brad Simpson, said fatigue and long hours were among the biggest health challenges in the hospitality industry, leading to musculoskeletal issues and an increased susceptibility to illness.

“From my own experience, standing up for long periods of time can lead to back issues and cold and flu comes into play over winter too because people are run down,” he said.

“We’ve tried to counteract that by shortening hours and making sure people have enough time to recuperate after each shift.”

Simpson said that although employers had a role to play in encouraging healthy choices, it was ultimately up to the individual.

“We recognise staff spend a lot of time at work so we provide healthy meals for them and we try to coach the younger team members to quit smoking, but we also recognise you can’t force people to change their behaviour,” he said.

 Like Simpson, Luisa Lucchesi, owner of Sapore restaurant in St Kilda, said health and wellbeing was a natural part of her restaurant’s philosophy – both in the Mediterranean diet provided to customers and the initiatives offered to staff.

“People work long hours in this industry and they often don’t feed themselves," she said.

"Chefs are surrounded by food all day but they are notorious for going without eating so we make sure there is always fresh food available."

Lucchesi said Sapore provides a daily staff meal after lunch service – compulsory for all staff – and breakfast for employees who start early in the day. It's also introduced Fruit Fridays where a bowl of fruit is provided weekly and, most recently, a drinking policy.

“Drinking seems to be a major part of the industry because it’s a wind-down thing. I’ve never wanted to ban staff from drinking but they need to understand moderation, so I’ve implemented a policy where they can have two drinks without going to extremes,” Lucchesi said.

Source: Hospitality Magazine

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This article was sourced from the Hospitality Magazine of Australia. The article discusses in much depth as to why so many workers in the hospitality industry smoke and drink excessively. The findings of the study by Quit Australia were astonishing when they revealed that one in four workers in hotels, restaurants and cafes smoke regularly, Whilst almost half (43%) drink in excess. There are many reasons as to why workers harm their bodies like this but the most obvious reasons found was due to the harsh working conditions that hospitality workers face. Waiters are made to work in suits and work in awkward positions whilst chefs and stewards are constantly exposed to hazards in kitchens from chemicals, gas stoves, hot water and slips. Not to mention that hospitality workers face long stressful shifts on low salaries. This can also contribute to their lack of motivation to work. My conclusion from working in the industry for many years is that workers are paid very little and are forced to work long hours, even worse painful stressful hours of the day. There is no wonder staff find escapes of their work place by smoking and drinking. I feel very passionate about this article because I believe that it is something that the government needs to address in a very serious manner. The more we look after our staff in harsh working conditions the more productive they will be. It is simple economics that the more productive a worker is the more money a business will create.