A new front opens in the denormalisation of drinking...

One or two people thought I was exaggerating recently when I made this comment in a post about CAMRA:

Only teetotallers will be recruited by the NHS and having alcohol in their private cars will lead to some workers being sacked.

It's starting already:

Public listed companies should have to outline their policy on their staff's alcohol use as an explicit requirement, according to Alcohol Concern.

And there's already a handy business - sucking up to government and the prohibitionists - primed to take full advantage of employers who want to dictate the alcohol use of those who work for them:

Research carried out by BreathScan, an alcohol-screening supplier, showed that only 22% of FTSE 250 companies have clear alcohol awareness policies. BreathScan looked at published materials such as annual reports and websites for each company, as well as contacting their HR departments to ask whether or not they had an alcohol policy.

And what exactly is "alcohol-screening" you may ask:

Combining leading science innovations and clever design, we provide people the means to effect simple, precise, low-cost alcohol screening and the thinking, programmes and products to encourage broader, positive changes in attitudes to responsible alcohol consumption.

Which is code for selling Breathalyzer kits to businesses and, to justify this, the firm repeats all the familiar lies about rising consumption of alcohol (it's actually falling), about the cost of drinking to business and the "no safe level" of drinking myth.

The message here isn't that firms should be aware of drinking - nothing new there for businesses where workers operate machinery or drive - but that drinking should be actively discouraged. And that firms should police the drinking habits of their employees.

How long before the NHS stops employing drinkers?

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