Alcohol Prevention in the Swedish Workplace—Who Cares?

Abstract

In this article we discuss what interest, and whose interest, there is in working with alcohol and drug prevention in workplaces. As the Swedish alcohol policy has weakened, alternative ways for primary prevention are sought. Public reports have pointed out the workplace as one arena for prevention that could compensate for the government's diminishing alcohol control. Will this work? What conditions are necessary in order to work successfully with these issues in a corporate environment? Several studies have suggested that there is little interest in working with prevention in workplaces, and this study supports this finding. This study involved interviews at 16 companies in Sweden with personnel managers, employees (in focus groups), union representatives, and in some cases the company's health care department. In a preliminary stage the findings verified our hypothesis that the overall interest in primary prevention in reality is not that strong. The participants in the study believed that the responsibility lies in intervention when the alcohol or drug problem has arisen, and there is really not much the company can do to prevent people from using alcohol or drugs.