Information taken from BITC – Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco toolkit
Going further: taking the next step
If you feel your company can and want to go further, become an ambassador for supporting employees to make healthier choices around alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
Sharing your stories can help other organisations provide support for their employees, and by being part of a supportive network of individuals in a work environment where you spend a large amount of time, you can learn what others are doing, to support the continued development of your own approach.
Keeping the programme active and current
Successful programmes are ongoing and evolving. Sustain your programme by integrating it into the workplace culture and environment and keeping the programme responsive to changing conditions and people’s views.
Workplace alcohol, drug and tobacco policies and programmes are often reviewed and updated. Keep abreast of best practices and programmes by joining local advocacy groups, which can be sourced through your local council. Small-business associations and trade and professional organisations might also provide up-to-date information about drug-free workplace issues.
Maintain positive and regular communication
Periodically repeating messages in a positive, non-invasive way, is important to ensuring that communication is successful.
Effective ways to communicate include intranet and occasional emails, written materials, charts, meetings, question-and answer sessions, and suggestion boxes. If you want to maximise your impact, become involved in national campaigns and events such as No Smoking Day and Stoptober.
Involve your employees
Ask a group of employees to periodically review the programme and suggest appropriate changes. Some employers and unions survey their employees or members and their families regarding their interest in substance misuse and health and wellness programmes. Many employee assistance programmes also offer or arrange for both general and specialised employee education activities.
Here are some other actions that employers can take to help sustain the workplace effort:
- Sponsor or help with prevention services in your community that would benefit your employees and their families
- Include healthy lifestyle articles in your organisation’s newsletter to be a resource for those that wish to adopt healthier lifestyles
- Appoint a corporate representative to serve on and support any local dependency support community partnerships in your area
- Provide alcohol-free options at events for employees
Local Support

Healthy You
Description of activity We are a free service for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough residents who are looking to make changes to their lifestyle. So, whether you want help to quit smoking,
Read More About Healthy YouResources
Documents
The business impact of alcohol, drugs and tobacco
The relationship between mental health and alcohol, drugs and tobacco
Tobacco Dependence
Other
External Links
Alcohol and drug dependence
- Adfam – Families, Drugs and Alcohol
- Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – Drug Misuse
- NHS Choices – Addiction: What is it?
- NHS Choices – Alcohol Addiction Services
- Talk to Frank: A to Z of drugs
The business impact of alcohol, drugs and tobacco
- Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – The employment practices code
- Department of Health – Towards a smokefree generation: a tobacco control plan for England
- Public Health England – The Public Health Burden of Alcohol
- Smoking and absence from work: systematic review and meta-analysis of occupational studies
The relationship between mental health and alcohol, drugs and tobacco
- Change in mental health after smoking cessation – systematic review and meta-analysis
- Gov.uk – Smokefree (Signs) Regulations 2012
- PMC3923980 NHS Digital – Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2014
- Public Health England – Better care for people with co-occurring mental health and alcohol/drug use conditions
- The Smokefree (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations 2006
Tobacco Dependence
- Gov.uk – Use of e-cigarettes in public places and workplaces: advice to inform evidence-based policy making
- National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT)
- NHS Choices – Stop Smoking
- NHS Smokefree
- NICE public health guidance PH45 – Smoking: harm reduction
- NICE public health guidance PH5 – Smoking: workplace interventions
- Smoking at work: the law