§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Employment if his Department has evidence of a relationship between alcohol consumption and accidents at work.
§ Mr. Waddington[pursuant to his reply, 26 January 1981]: The available evidence does not make it possible to establish the proportion of industrial accidents in which alcohol consumption is a contributory factor although a number of published studies have suggested that consumption of alcohol may be a significant factor in some work accidents. In addition, experimental work has demonstrated that consumption of alcohol reduces the ability of workpeople to perform potentially hazardous tasks safely.