Impact of addictive behaviors on productivity at work among employees working on an onshore oil field

Abstract

Introduction Addictive behaviors on the workplace are a real public health problem because of its consequences not only on workers but also on productivity at work. Objectives To explore the relationship between addictive behaviors and productivity at work among employees of a Tunisian oil rig. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in the first half of 2018. The assessment of work productivity was done using the validated WPAI-GH questionnaire. Smoking dependence was assessed via the Fagerström score and alcohol abuse by the FACE questionnaire. Results It was 94 employees working in an onshore oil field with an average age of 41.1 years. Average job seniority was 14.3 years. Active smoking was noted in 34.7% of cases. Alcohol consumption was noted in 19.1% of cases. In the 7 days preceding the survey, the average percentage of absenteeism was 3.64 ± 21.7% and the presenteeism was 17.66 ± 25.58%. The average decline in productivity was 14.8 ± 43.7% and the average decline in daily activities was 20.21 ± 31.45%. These parameters were not correlated with smoking and alcoholism. Conclusions Addictive behaviors in the workplace still a denied reality.Increasing awareness and clarifying expectations can be a good first step in order to ameliorate employee functioning and decrease productivity problems.

Keywords

• addictive behaviors
• onshore oil workers