Dive Brief:

• More construction workers are heavy drinkers than employees of any other industry except mining, according to a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

• Among the construction workers who answered the survey, 17% admitted they drank more than five alcoholic beverages in a sitting on at least five days over the past month.

• Workers in the industry ranked fifth for drug abuse, the study reported.

Dive Insight:

While the study revealed that alcohol and drug abuse have more to do with age and gender than with job choice, drinking among construction workers appeared heavy, even after researchers controlled for those demographic factors.