You probably already know that alcohol is arguably more dangerous than hard drugs – because unlike hard drugs, alcohol is legal and very accessible.
One million Australians are consuming, on average, eight drinks a day. Did you know that alcohol-related illnesses alone kill 15 Aussies daily?
Here are twelve jaw-dropping alcohol-related incidents. Prepare to be amazed.
A ball-breaker of a boss—literally
An American employer literally broke his employee’s testicles when he grabbed them while drunk at a team-building seminar in New York.
The employee had to undergo three surgeries – his left testicle was beyond repair and had to be removed.
The poor employee was literally emasculated.
We don’t know what happened to the rest of the team, but perhaps they all bonded, sensing a common threat.
Air traffic controller found passed out drunk—while on duty
Disaster was narrowly averted when an air traffic controller was found passed out drunk (and with his shirt off!) in his seat while on duty at the Springdale Municipal Airport.
Unfortunately, not all people who are too drunk to work take their shirts off, otherwise they would be easy to spot. But it is a good reminder that no profession is safe from drug and alcohol abuse – not even air traffic!
Drunk pilot passed out in cockpit before take off
While on the topic of flying, here is another example of too much alcohol on the job.
A SunWings pilot arrived in the cockpit an hour late, staggering, struggling to hang up his coat, and slurring his words. He then sat down and passed out with his face resting on the window.
When police arrived, the pilot couldn’t even stand up straight. His pilot wings were pinned upside down.
A memo to pilots: leave alcohol to your passengers.
Lunchtime whisky leads to destructive no-joy-ride
After downing one whole litre of whisky during his lunch break, a construction worker in England drove a 40-tonne truck through a small town and damaged or outright destroyed 15 cars in the process.
Make sure you lock up any trucks and keep the keys safe, so no potential joy-rider will have such easy access. This also goes for tanks.
Tiger goes bargain hunting
A drunk animal keeper for a Russian circus felt like going for a stroll through the local shopping mall. This may not sound too remarkable to make international headlines. However, this particular animal keeper decided to take one of the circus tigers along.
It took him a while and the attention of police officers to realise what he was doing.
It is unknown if there was a butcher in the mall. But we hope they stopped the tiger and animal keeper in the fruit market.
Dentist tries to extract wisdom teeth while drunk
A Tennessee dentist tried to extract a patient’s wisdom teeth while he was drunk. He was promptly arrested and extracted from his office.
Drunk BMW workers cost company $ 1 Million in one day
Two intoxicated workers assigned to the exhaust assembly area in the Munich factory collapsed on duty – causing the assembly line to grind to a halt for 40 minutes. That production halt cost BMW $ 1 Million.
They probably thought BMW meant “Bring More Wine.”
Drunken judge kisses lawyer and swears in court
A drunken judge appearing as a solicitor was swaying and clutching a table to steady herself while interrupting proceedings and forcibly kissing another solicitor.
She also swore at an usher and uttered obscenities at the prosecution lawyer. She interrupted the magistrates while they gave their ruling and eventually was escorted out of the courtroom by a security guard.
According to the judge, she has an illness that makes her breath smell like alcohol.
So perhaps she didn’t stop because no one objected…
Drunk farmer brawls with pig and dies
A farmer in Mexico died after getting drunk and brawling with a pig he kept in his home. We do not know why, but as we all know, good judgement goes out the window when under the influence of too much alcohol. The pig, obviously more sober, started to defend itself. It bit off his testicles and three of his fingers. He died afterward of an infection caused by the wounds.
That’s another way too much pork can kill you.
Stockbroker spent $520m in drunken blackout – increasing global oil price
PVM Oil Futures trader Steve Perkins, in his drunken stupor, bought 7m barrels of crude in a late-night trading binge on his laptop.
Other traders followed suit – ten times the usual volume of futures contracts changed hands in just one hour. Prices leapt by more than $1.50 a barrel.
His drunken trading single-handedly moved the global price of oil to an eight-month high.
Perhaps he was going for a quantity discount and qualify for free shipping.
Drunk Nurse At Psychiatric Hospital Sexually Assaults Patient
A 29-year-old female nurse in Atlanta was drunk while on duty at Anchor Psychiatric Hospital.
This is taking the mantra of “treating patients well” a bit too far.The nurse pulled a patient out of a group therapy session, brought him to his room, grabbed his hands and then began to hug and kiss him.
Drunk tour guide gives an unforgettable tour
About 60 Hungarian tourists were on a tour of the Austrian Alps. They noticed that their guide was a little too drunk.
After a while, the tour guide disappeared and left them stranded on the icy mountains. Thankfully, emergency services found them and no one was hurt.
As they made their way down the valley, they ran into a familiar face. It was the tour guide. He had made his way down the valley by himself, forgetting the fact that he had a group of 60 tourists with him!
Postman with drinking problem fails to deliver more than 31,000 pieces of mail
Mr. Tasker, a postman for the British Royal Mail hoarded a staggering number of 31,000 pieces of mail in and around his home.
He even wrapped some in carrier bags to protect them, saying he will deliver them once he has “sobered up.”
The postman for 12 years said he never got around to taking the post to its rightful destinations. He was eventually put under surveillance by the Royal Mail. On the day of observation, they found he started at noon and stopped at 2 pm, leaving more than 300 packets undelivered.
Mr. Tasker admitted to leaving the Post Office and getting drunk. He said he had intended to deliver the mail at some point, but tomorrow never came. It cost the Royal Mail £1,530 to sort and deliver the parcels.
Implementing an Office Alcohol Policy
Money, jobs, reputation and lives could have been saved if there were strict drinking policies in place where these people worked.
Alcohol abuse contributes to a very unsafe working environment and affects not only the drinkers’ health but also the sober people around them.
Data from the Australian Alcohol and Drug Foundation shows one in 10 workers have experienced the negative effects associated with a co-worker’s misuse of alcohol, like a reduced ability to do their job, alcohol-related accidents, and working extra hours to cover for a drunk colleague.
Your employees (and the general public!) deserve a safe working environment.
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