Drunken environments: a survey of bartenders working in pubs, bars and nightclubs

Tapping into alcohol use during COVID: Drinking correlates among bartenders and servers

The COVID pandemic placed a spotlight on alcohol use and the hardships of working within the food and beverage industry, with millions left jobless. Following previous studies that have found elevated rates of alcohol problems among bartenders and servers, here we studied the alcohol use of bartenders and servers who were employed during COVID. From February 12-June 16, 2021, in the midst of the U.S. COVID national emergency declaration, survey data from 1,010 employed bartender and servers were analyzed to quantify rates of excessive or hazardous drinking along with regression predictors of alcohol use as assessed by the 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Findings indicate that more than 2 out of 5 (44%) people surveyed reported moderate or high rates of alcohol problem severity (i.e., AUDIT scores of 8 or higher)-a rate 4 to 6 times that of the heavy alcohol use rate reported pre- or mid-pandemic by adults within and outside the industry. Person-level factors (gender, substance use, mood) along with the drinking habits of one's core social group were significantly associated with alcohol use. Bartenders and servers reported surprisingly high rates of alcohol problem severity and experienced risk factors for hazardous drinking at multiple ecological levels. Being a highly vulnerable and understudied population, more studies on bartenders and servers are needed to assess and manage the true toll of alcohol consumption for industry employees.

Binge Drinking by Occupation Groups among Currently Employed U.S. Adults in 32 States, 2013-2016

BACKGROUND

Excessive alcohol use, including binge drinking (i.e., ≥5 drinks (males); ≥4 drinks (females), per occasion during the past 30 days), is associated with work-related injuries, absenteeism, and lost productivity. Binge drinking varies by sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, income). However, information on binge drinking by occupation is limited. Purpose: This study examined binge drinking prevalence, frequency, intensity, and total binge drinks per binge drinker by sociodemographic characteristics and occupation. Methods: Data were analyzed from 358,355 currently employed U.S. adults who resided in the 32 states that administered the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System industry and occupation questions during 2013-2016. Binge drinking was evaluated using weighted and adjusted prevalence models. Results: Among currently employed adults in the 32 states, 20.8% reported binge drinking, with an average of nearly 49 times per year and an average intensity of 7.4 drinks per binge episode, resulting in 478 total binge drinks per binge drinker. The adjusted binge drinking prevalence ranged from 15.9% among community and social services workers to 26.3% among construction and extraction workers. The total annual binge drinks per binge drinker ranged from 207 drinks among community and social services workers to 749 drinks among construction and extraction workers. Conclusions: One in five employed adults binge drink, and binge drinking varied across occupation groups. Widespread use of effective community-based strategies for preventing excessive alcohol use (e.g., regulating alcohol outlet density), as well as interventions tailored to specific occupation groups, and could reduce binge drinking and improve occupational safety and health.

Characteristics and Predictors of Heavy Episodic Drinking (HED) among Young People Aged 16-25: The International Alcohol Control Study (IAC), Tshwane, South Africa

In South Africa, little is known about alcohol consumption patterns, such as drinks consumed, container size, salience of alcohol price, affordability and availability, and perceptions of alcohol policies as potential predictors of heavy episodic alcohol (HED) use among young people. This paper examines predictors of HED among young people with specific consideration given to these alcohol consumption patterns. This study conducted in the Tshwane Metropole in 2014 employed multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling. Participants were between the ages 16–25 years. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Of the 287 (n = 678) participants who had used alcohol in the past six months and for whom we had complete consumption data, almost half were identified as heavy episodic drinkers (HEDs) and were significantly more likely to consume alcohol on a daily basis (p = 0.001). Having nightclub as the primary drinking location (p = 0.023) and drinking from a container size bigger than one standard drink (p = 0.014) were significant predictors for HED. HEDs were also more likely to have a perception that most people consume alcohol (p = 0.047). The results point to HED of alcohol among young people who drink in South Africa, highlighting the need for multicomponent interventions.

["The guests are never right" - Work-related self-understanding of bartenders working at hip venues]

Aim:

Studies of bartenders often focus on over-serving and bartenders’ role in venues with a lot of violence and disorderly patrons. The aim of this article is to show how bartenders in hip venues in downtown Oslo experience bartender culture and what activities they themselves emphasize as important and distinctive to the profession.

Method:

The article is based on 11 interviews with bartenders working at popular and hip nightlife venues in an area of Oslo typically characterized by a culturally conscious clientele. The analysis is inspired by an open coding where the most important trends in the material are identified and classified.

Result:

The informants pay particular attention to three important activities when describing the bartender profession: defining the visitors as guests, correcting the guests’ behaviour, and “being themselves”. These highlighted practices are often overlooked in other bartender studies.

Conclusion:

The sum of these practices gives both great authority over the guests and a great freedom in how the profession is to be exercised. While several previous studies have largely demonstrated that the freedom and ability of the bartender to influence the workplace is limited, this study shows how bartenders in hip venues in downtown Oslo distance themselves from the traditional understanding of bartenders since they strongly emphasize that they are in control over what goes on in the venues.

Designing drunkenness: How pubs, bars and nightclubs increase alcohol sales

Using ethnographic data, this paper investigates the techniques used inside pubs, bars and nightclubs to solicit and sustain alcohol consumption among patrons. Focus is on venues with the majority of patrons belonging to the age group of approximately 15-35 years. The paper identifies a number of techniques, both overt and covert, including: alcohol advertising; special offers (e.g. 'Happy Hours' and 'all you can drink' specials); bartenders' use of strategic intimacy, flirtation, and encouragements to buy more; speed drinking devices (e.g. shot glasses, 'beer bongs' and large pitchers); and architectural features that hamper moderate drinking while accelerating the purchase and intake of alcohol. These techniques were used most extensively in low-priced venues with the youngest patrons (e.g. themed chain pubs) and less so in more expensive venues with more adult patrons (e.g. craft beer bars). The paper argues that youth-oriented drinking venues may be conceived as staged atmospheres of consumption where individuals are seduced and compelled into purchasing alcohol. A team of 12 researchers collected the data through interviews and observations in pubs, bars and nightclubs in four cities across Denmark.

Alcohol and drug use among staff at licensed premises in Norway

AIMS

There is increased concern about the use of alcohol and illicit drugs in nightlife settings. Most studies of substance use in nightlife settings are from the patrons' perspective, which leaves an understudied population - the nightclub staff. The aim of this paper is to study self-reported alcohol and substance use among staff at licensed premises in Norway: types of illicit drugs used, attitudes towards drugs, and observed drug use among patrons.

METHODS

A survey was conducted at server-training courses in 20 different cities in Norway during 2015. The survey included: demographics, respondents' own alcohol and drug experience, attitudes towards drug use, and observed drug use among patrons at licensed premises.

RESULTS

Data were collected from 912 staff working at licensed premises. A majority reported alcohol use in the past year, and 61% reported alcohol use two or more times a month. Overall, 45% of the respondents reported ever-used of illicit drugs. The four most commonly used drugs among staff were cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy/MDMA, and amphetamine. The majority of respondents supported Norway's strict drug laws, and 63% reported observing drug-intoxicated patrons at licensed premises during the past six months.

CONCLUSIONS

The proportion of frequent drinkers and heavy episodic drinking among staff at licensed premises was high, and the prevalence of illicit drug use was much higher compared with the general population. Thus, staff at licensed premises can be considered a risk-group for alcohol and illicit drug use and therefore represent an important target population in club drug-prevention programmes.

"That's cool, you're a musician and you drink": Exploring entertainers' accounts of their unique workplace relationship with alcohol

This qualitative research investigates the alcohol experiences of entertainers who perform within licensed premises. Previous, mainly quantitative, studies have found that entertainers, specifically musicians, are an occupational group who drink excessively. This qualitative study draws on a wider sample of entertainers to examine their accounts of drinking in the workplace and the explanations they provide for this. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews (n=24) with band-members, variety acts and DJs in Glasgow, Scotland. This revealed a workplace characterised by continual opportunities for often free alcohol consumption. Unlike most occupations, for entertainers 'drinking-on-the-job' was normative, expected, and sometimes encouraged by peers, the public, employers or sponsors. Entertainers also experienced performance-related incentives to drink before, during and/or after a show; including anxiety, matching their intoxication level to the audience's, and 'reward-drinking'. This qualitative research confirms the unique nature of the entertainer-alcohol link, even in comparison to that found within other leisure industry occupations. While providing some explanation as to why entertainers might drink excessively, participants' accounts also suggested potential strategies for avoiding the negative outcomes of workplace drinking.

The Reliability of Naturalistic Observations of Social, Physical and Economic Environments of Bars

Drinking in bars contributes to numerous public health problems, including violence and motor vehicle crashes. In order to formulate effective preventive interventions it is essential to identify which specific features of bar environments are related to increased risks. Unobtrusive ethnographic observations are one approach that has been used to characterize these features; however no studies have assessed reliability in a representative sample of bars. We performed brief scouting assessments in all 165 bars in six purposively selected California cities, followed by unobtrusive observations from a subsequent representative sample of 97 bars which were located in low and high bar density areas of the cities. Inter-rater reliability between two independent observers assessed individual item reliability, and principal components analyses assessed the reliability of a series of scales describing the physical, social, and economic characteristics of the bars. For the scouting assessment, items exhibited at least moderate reliability (κ or r ≥ 0.40). For the unobtrusive observations, items assessing physical and economic environments (e.g., pool table present, κ = 0.90; index beer cost, r = 0.82) had moderate to outstanding reliability (κ or r > 0.80). Items describing the social environment generally had poorer reliability, though group aspects (e.g., patron count, r = 0.78; patron circulation, r = 0.64) had better reliability than individual behaviors (e.g., derogatory speech, κ = 0.12). Scales constructed from specific sets of items exhibited modest reliability. The individual metrics and principal components we present will enable future studies seeking to disaggregate relationships between bar characteristics and public health problems.

Reducing HIV Risks in the Places Where People Drink: Prevention Interventions in Alcohol Venues

Apart from individual alcohol drinking behavior, the context or places where people drink play a significant role in HIV transmission risk. In this paper, we review the research that has been conducted on alcohol venues to identify the social and structural factors (e.g., social norms, sexual behavior) that are associated with HIV risk in these places, to review HIV prevention interventions based in alcohol venues, and to discuss appropriate methodologies for alcohol venue research. Alcohol venues are defined here as places that sell or serve alcohol for onsite consumption, including bars, bottle stores, nightclubs, wine shops, and informal shebeens. Despite the many established HIV risk factors at play in alcohol venues, limited prevention strategies have been implemented in such places. A total of 11 HIV prevention interventions or programs were identified. HIV prevention interventions in alcohol venues may be conducted at the individual, social, or structural level. However, multilevel interventions that target more than one level appear to lead to the most sustainable behavior change. Strategies to incorporate alcohol venues in biomedical prevention strategies including antiretroviral therapy for alcohol users are also discussed.

Violent work environments

Purpose

– Over the last decade a substantial pool of research has emerged on bouncers and their influence on the safety conditions in nightlife environments. Comparatively little, however, has been written on bouncers themselves and their working conditions. The purpose of this paper is to identify the perceived risks, stress and other work-related problems among bouncers working in Danish nightlife.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was conducted. In total, 238 bouncers were contacted and 159 of them completed a questionnaire.

Findings

– In total, 40 percent reported having been threatened with a weapon and 58 percent reported that they had been physically assaulted at work. Moreover, 16 percent reported feeling stressed and 50 percent reported weekly sleeping difficulties.

Originality/value

– These findings highlight some of the costs of working in the night-time economy. They may be used to improve the working conditions of bouncers and, by implication, help improve the general safety conditions in nightlife environments.

Factors associated with over-serving at drinking establishments

AIMS

To address characteristics of drinking establishments, bartenders and patrons that may affect the likelihood of over-serving.

DESIGN

A systematic examination of 425 purchase attempts with pseudo-intoxicated patrons enacting scripts that, according to the law, should lead to the denial of alcohol sales.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Drinking establishments in the three largest cities in Norway (Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo) were visited by male and female actors aged 20-30 years on weekend nights, with a total of 425 purchase items.

MEASUREMENTS

Over-serving was recorded when the pseudo-intoxicated patron was served alcohol. Characteristics of the drinking establishment, the bartender and the pseudo-intoxicated patron were recorded systematically.

RESULTS

Pseudo-intoxicated patrons were served in 347 of 425 purchase attempts (82%). In bivariate analyses, the over-serving rate increased with venue characteristics, music/noise level and intoxication level among patrons. These factors were intercorrelated and correlated with poor lighting. The over-serving rate was also higher when the pseudo-intoxicated patron was female and when the purchase attempt occurred after midnight. In multi-variate analyses, two factors increased the likelihood of over-serving significantly: a high problematic bar indicator score (poor lighting, high music/noise level and high intoxication level among patrons) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.9, 6.4] and female gender of pseudo-intoxicated patrons (adjusted OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.4, 4.7). The rate of over-serving was 95% when both risk factors were present and 67% when both factors were absent.

CONCLUSIONS

In urban settings in Norway, it is likely that over-serving occurs frequently, and is increased by the risk factors of poor lighting, loud music and high intoxication level among patrons.