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Being a tradie is hard work, so they drink just as hard, the stereotype goes. It might be a light-hearted cliché to some, but the reality is far more serious. Some research indicates that as many as one in six Kiwis and one in five construction workers in New Zealand engage in hazardous drinking, but […]
Being a tradie is hard work, so they drink just as hard, the stereotype goes. It might be a light-hearted cliché to some, but the reality is far more serious. Some research indicates that as many as one in six Kiwis and one in five construction workers in New Zealand engage in hazardous drinking, but what is the industry doing to support and uplift at-risk tradespeople and their communities?
It’s well-known that stressful, physically demanding work strains mental health and that alcohol is a handy coping mechanism—it’s New Zealand’s most used drug. Yet because alcohol consumption is so normalised in New Zealand, its harmful impacts are widely minimised, including its long-term physical risks like liver damage, heart disease, and cancers; mental health challenges such as increased rates of depression and suicide; and societal impacts like increased crime and violence.
Demanding work conditions and societal expectations create a culture that prevents and even stigmatises healthier stress relief outlets. As such, alcohol use can spiral into dependency, impacting the drinker and their community. A 2016 study by the National Drug Policy Coalition indicated that about 20% of Kiwi construction workers engage in hazardous drinking. Addressing this requires a shift in workplace culture and a collective effort to reduce alcohol harm in the construction sector and beyond.
Alcoholism is typically diagnosed based on a range of symptoms, including drinking more or for longer than intended, difficulty in reducing or controlling drinking, spending a lot of time on activities related to drinking, and continuing to drink despite social or personal issues.
Construction Health and Safety New Zealand (CHASNZ) says that the presence of alcohol abuse and dependency is recognised in the construction industry worldwide. They say that although traditional norms that view drinking as a way to manage stress and maintain workplace sociability reinforce the ‘hard-drinking tradie’ trope, there’s an increasing push to break down this stereotype as workplace health initiatives gain industry traction.
CHASNZ says that while alcohol impairs motor skills, judgement, and reaction times, its direct link to workplace harm is inconclusive, with societal assumptions often filling the research gap. It’s more likely that workers who engage in harmful, substance-using behaviours take more risks at work, leading to incidents. Modern studies suggest risky behaviours driven by underlying stressors play a larger role in workplace incidents than substance use alone. Though alcohol isn’t the sole cause of accidents, its presence intensifies deeper problems to be addressed.
New Zealanders love to drink. It’s deeply ingrained in us from teenhood, if not in earlier adolescence, when rite-of-passage yard glasses are sculled at 21st birthdays and red card parties fill the flat calendar.
We look down on weddings without open bars and pop open bubbles to celebrate big purchases. We usher in the weekend with pints at pubs and feel socially awkward without liquid courage.
It’s been this way for decades. From 1918 to 1967, pubs legally had to close by six, as sobriety was considered a patriotic duty that promoted a more efficient workforce. The ‘six o’clock swill’ became a way of life, where men crowded together to get their beer fix before closing time. Our nation’s drinking culture has been blamed on this law, which taught generations of men to drink as fast as possible, behaviour passed down to today.
Kiwis are constantly reminded to drink; it’s depicted in our prime-time television every nine minutes. Lizzie Barratt is the health promotion advisor at Alcohol Healthwatch, a national organisation dedicated to reducing and preventing alcohol-related harm and inequities. She says that the alcohol industry has shaped us because our drinking laws are extremely liberal.
“Alcohol is more affordable and available than ever before. The number of on-licences (where you can drink on the premises) and off-licences (where you can take alcohol home) has tripled and doubled, respectively, since 1989.” That’s the year wine became available in supermarkets; beer followed in 1999 when the minimum legal age to purchase alcohol was also reduced from 20 to 18.
The alcohol industry is ruthless in its strategy, working closely with lawmakers and city planners. Lizzie says that alcohol sellers are purposefully clustered in low socio-economic communities that have fewer resources to resist the industry’s influence. “These environments are associated with increased crime, hazardous drinking, and consequently alcohol-related harm.”
International lobbying by the alcohol industry blocks governments from improving their alcohol harm policies, which Lizzie says protects profits rather than people’s health and wellbeing. “In New Zealand, lobbying is pervasive and transparent. The public often doesn’t know about ‘friendly’ relationships built between industry representatives and MPs through dinners or box seats to alcohol-sponsored rugby games and the huge power this gives to industry voices in Parliament.”
Despite its potential for harm, alcohol is embedded in our cultural fabric, and we expect alcohol consumption in almost every social setting. The New Zealand Drug Foundation highlights that although Kiwis recognise that drug use comes with risks, we tend to ignore the dangers of alcohol. CHASNZ says this cultural double standard might discourage those struggling with alcoholism from seeking help as they may not view their drinking as problematic. Seeing how normalised drinking is in New Zealand, it can be hard for workplaces and communities to reduce alcohol harm.
Data consistently shows that men are more likely to report substance use as a mental health concern. MATES in Construction delivers education, awareness, and worksite training aimed at addressing the high rate of suicide among construction workers. Of the workers experiencing mental distress and receiving support from MATES’ counsellors, 19% reported substance use issues. 8% of workers mentioned alcohol-related concerns in their home lives in MATES’ November 2023 Wellbeing Survey. Of them, 93% were men. It’s worth noting that men are broadly overrepresented in MATES’ statistics, as the programme focuses on male-dominated industries. Still, gender plays a massive role in tackling alcohol harm within the construction industry and beyond.
MATES and BRANZ, the Building Research Association, spoke with over 100 construction workers about psychosocial stressors in their industry. These workers highlighted a culture of toxic masculinity, where societal pressure to ‘tough it out’ often led men to use alcohol as a coping mechanism. While heavy drinking was described as normalised among males in construction, women in the industry generally viewed it less favourably. Workers also noted that appearing to have a drinking problem or seeking help remained stigmatised. This stigma discourages men from seeking help, exacerbating the problem.
How booze is advertised in New Zealand reinforces our gendered reality, and those men who do not conform to norms by not drinking in male-dominated spaces are often alienated. By sponsoring teams and events, when we think about sports, we think about alcohol despite its adverse health impacts; one example of these marketing tactics.
“The alcohol industry targets those most at risk of heavy drinking to make as much money as possible, despite knowing alcohol is the most harmful drug in our society,” Lizzie says.
“Structural factors increase alcohol exposure, work-related stress, and financial challenges for Maori and Pacific men. Pacific men, in particular, are often expected to be the main earners for large families, increasing the pressure to ensure income is not lost. It’s important to understand these factors when considering gender, alcohol, and the construction industry – because it means some are unfairly being more impacted than others.”
Maori and Pacific peoples make up 30% of the construction workforce, yet 24% of the overall population, per Stats NZ.
“In the past year, Māori and Pacific men were impacted by hazardous drinking at rates 1.46 and 1.61 times higher (respectively) than non-Māori non-Pacific men,” Lizzie adds. “Intersectionality is crucial to conversations about men and alcohol to make sure that no one is left behind in efforts to provide support.”
The New Zealand Health Survey found that one in six adults has a hazardous drinking pattern, about 720,000 adults nationwide. Helping Kiwis experiencing alcohol-related harm looks like education, health policy change, peer support, access to counselling and rehabilitation, but also a nationwide culture shift that includes everyone.
Alcohol-related harm doesn’t just impact the individual but also family, friends, co-workers, and the wider community. Professor Sally Casswell is a health researcher at Massey University who studies the harm alcohol causes others. Her research has found that over one in four New Zealanders have a heavy drinker in their lives and experience a range of negative health impacts, including depression and anxiety.
Alcohol-related harm to others causes the loss of more life than harm to drinkers themselves, with 78,277 healthy life years lost compared to 60,174 years lost, per another 2018 study. The main contributor was fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, followed by traffic crashes and interpersonal violence. “For there to be greater impact on people other than the drinker emphasises the need to consider the full range of harms involved when assessing the need for improved alcohol policy,” she says.
Current strategies focus on the individual by monitoring consumption. Lizzie says we need to shift the focus to other factors like how available and accepted booze is. Leaders must set healthy drinking standards and foster inclusivity about mental health and addiction on and off-site.
“Culture change starts with tradies who have the power to identify and challenge the relationship between alcohol and masculinity as it operates within the construction workforce.”
CHASNZ, MATES in Construction, and industry mental fitness initiative Live Well Build Well now offer resources to support mental health and address substance use in the workplace, creating safer and more supportive environments for everyone affected by alcohol-related challenges. Many organisations and programmes are available to those in need. Challenging the hard-drinking tradie stereotype happens one conversation at a time.
