Although alcohol is a legal substance used by many, there is clear and undisputed evidence that it impairs the user and can often be abused or misused. Accordingly, there is a legal drink-driving limit of 80 mg/dl or 0.08% BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) enforced by law in the UK.
To follow is a range of alcohol information, such as how
long does alcohol stay in your system, alcohol effects,
alcohol facts and information on alcohol awareness training
courses and policy development for the workplace.
How long does alcohol stay in your
Alcohol is broken down by the liver at the rate of approximately one unit per hour (a pint of normal strength beer being two units). Consequently, it is possible to still be under the influence the following morning if you have drunk excessively the night before. In fact, every year in Britain over 25,000 people lose their driving licences the morning after a night's drinking.
To exercise caution, the following
alcohol calculation can be used to estimate your level of risk after having drunk the night before.
1 Unit of alcohol = ½ Pint ordinary strength
1 standard glass of table wine
1 standard glass of sherry
1 single measure of spirits.
It is advised that you allow a minimum of 1 hour per 1
unit of alcohol consumed before driving or operating heavy machinery
or electrical equipment in order to ensure that you are
not under the influence of alcohol.
This simple formula will help:
Number of units drunk - Number of
hours since last drink = Alcohol content
For example: A person drinks 6 pints of an ordinary strength
beer (12 units) finishing drinking at 11pm. They start work
at 8am the following day. (9 Hours later).
12 Units - 9 hours = 3. In this scenario, the person could
still have 3-4 units of alcohol left in their body whilst
driving to work the following day - risking both Police
prosecution and the safety of others. 3-4 Units will bring
most people to the UK legal driving limit. Please exercise
The effects of alcohol abuse are
numerous. Visit our effects of alcohol page for more
information. However, a brief overview on alcohol
effects are as follows:
Medical experts agree that there is no
strictly "safe" level of alcohol consumption. Binge
drinking dramatically increases people's tendency toward
taking risks, reduces their inhibitions, slows their
reaction times and affects co-ordination, putting them at
greater risk of accidents and criminal or otherwise
In the longer term, regular alcohol
consumption increases your risks of: liver damage, cancer
(of the liver, mouth, throat, and breast), mental health
problems, weight gain, heart disease, stroke, shrunken
genitals and reduced fertility. Alcohol reduces your
body's ability to absorb nutrition, and the weight gain can
also contribute to other conditions such as diabetes.
If you would like to read some of the
most recent alcohol facts and alcohol statistics, visit our
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Statistics in Young People.
Alcohol Awareness Training and Alcohol
As a business, we are frequently called
upon to help develop alcohol policies for use in the
workplace, which of course has to be supported by
awareness training. In today's culture however,
providing alcohol information, alcohol awareness training
and policy development is incomplete without similar
reference to drugs. More people die on the roads and
in the workplace from drug related accidents than from
alcohol related accidents, so a broad view should be taken
even if you don't believe drugs are an issue. Visit
drug and alcohol awareness training and consultancy
page for more information or
for free advice. Speak to a friendly expert on 0845
Legal Drink Drive Limits for DUI / DWI
For information on the legal drink
driving limits for your country, please visit
Drink Driving Limits for DUI / DWI page.
Free Training in Alcohol Testing Procedures:
Drug-Aware™ drug and alcohol test kits are very easy to use, but in any
technical field there are often many surrounding issues
of which to be aware. How long are different drugs and alcohol
detectable? How might patients attempt to influence their
alcohol test results? How can you prevent this? In our free training
sessions, we cover these topics and much more to arm your
team with the knowledge they need to operate a successful
These sessions are designed specifically to assist those
carrying out alcohol screening using Drug-Aware test kits
but they are different from our comprehensive drug awareness
seminars or policy development seminars which are often
bespoke sessions designed to suit the needs of individual
organisations and include a wealth of additional useful
Ask us for more details!
Support: Alcohol Test Kits & Breathalyzer Alcohol Test
At Drug-Aware Ltd, we pride ourselves on our level of customer
support and firmly believe that our clients should see us as their
long-term partners in patient care. On that basis, we offer all
of the support,
training and product guarantees that you could