Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Graham Hurdle's Blog: 25 November 2011 - But that was yesterday!
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Graham Hurdle's Blog: 25 November 2011 - But that was yesterday!

Date: 25 November 2011

Graham Hurdle is managing director of E-Training World

I can't help thinking that TV advertising has gone Christmas mad all too early this year. But when you consider that the retailers could be in for a tough December, perhaps it's inevitable.

The advert that has caught my eye the most is for a leading supermarket, already promoting the fact that you can buy 3 boxes of lager for what seems to be a remarkably small amount of money. But this appears to be the route they've adopted to make alcohol sales ridiculously cheap in order to draw customers into their store - I assume to purchase other products, such as Nurofen!

Yet joking apart, the Christmas culture of boozing at home is concerning due to the morning after. If I was to suggest to a typical company car driver that we should start drinking heavily at 7am in the morning all the way through to 1pm in the afternoon, have a few hours rest and then jump in our cars at 6pm I'm certain that most would see this is irresponsible. Many would also assume they'd be over the limit, breaking the law and a danger on the road.

Swap the A.M's to P.M's and vice versa and suddenly it's acceptable. After all, if you drink from 7 til 1 in the evening, then hit the road for an early start you've had a good sleep and the drinking was yesterday wasn't it! Well, we all know that changes nothing - the time scales remain the same.

So, what will you do this Christmas to ensure your company drivers are not drunk behind the wheel for those early starts?

Education is key. Making people realise how long alcohol remains in their system. A good tool for this is E-Training World's free web-based drink awareness system (www.drinkdrivingkills.com) which enables you to interact with an online tutor and pour a glass of whiskey to see if you know what a unit of alcohol looks like and how long it stays in your body.

The odd warning also doesn't go amiss. Reminding staff that Police presence in the morning is growing in order to catch the morning after drivers. And to lose one's licence could result in them also losing their job - worse still ending up in prison if they cause a serious accident. A zero tolerance culture will certainly help many drivers think twice before cracking open a final can before bed time when encouraged by friends to have 'just one more'.

And as for your Christmas party - if that's during the week are you expecting everyone to be at work at 8.30am the next day? Company directors could be on quite shaky ground if they're seen to encourage drinking by throwing a late night works do with a free bar, knowing that staff need to be driving again early the next day.

After all, what if someone had a fatal accident?

A sobering thought isn't it.



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