WORKPLACE SCREENING OF MINE EMPLOYEES USING THE ALCOHOL-USE DISORDERSIDENTIFICATION TEST (AUDIT) AND ALCOHOL BREATHALYZATION

Although public health campaigns focusing on alcohol in the work-place are receiving increasing attention, there is little empirical evidenc e regarding the use of screening. In this work-place study, 152 mining personnel (67% of the work-force) completed a self report screen usin g the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), One hundred a nd thirty-three of these (58.5% of the work-force) also consented to b e breathalysed and one (0.75%) recorded a BAC just over threshold for detection, Forty-eight males (37.7% of the male work-force) recorded A UDIT scores of eight or more consistent with hazardous alcohol use and one female registered a cumulative score above the female cut-off lev el for hazardous alcohol use, Eighty males (67% of the work-force), re corded binge drinking at least monthly and 81 males recorded a cumulat ive AUDIT score of less than eight; however, on item analysis, 64 (83% ) of these recorded binge drinking at least sometimes, There is substa ntial hazardous alcohol use in this sample work group and younger male s had higher alcohol consumption, more adverse consequences and higher total AUDIT scores identifying them as particularly at risk, The Cron bach & AUDIT was 0.72, confirming adequate internal consistency.