Having a hangover is an inevitable price to pay for letting your hair down at the office Christmas party.
But statistics suggest that there is a real risk of suffering a painful injury if you are involved in an alcohol-related accident at your work place's bash.
According to no win, no fee personal injury lawyers Claims Direct, over a million people have accidents at work each year.
If you suffer an injury through no fault of your own you could be entitled to compensation.
The possibility of accidents occurring during office parties are the reason why so many employers choose to hold their festive parties well away from work.
Yet a survey conducted by Aviva before the 2009 Christmas party season found that 61 per cent of UK businesses were still planning to hold an office-based party that year.
Partying through the recession
A quarter of people questioned in the survey said that the recession had given them cause to get more drunk and rowdy than at previous parties – a feeling which could well still apply 12 months later.
The research found that 15 per cent of workers have witnessed or experienced accidents at office parties.
Shockingly, 31 per cent of alcohol-related accidents at office parties resulted in trips to hospital for treatment.
Employers should have a duty of care to ensure that health and safety rules are taken into account by party planners. But they are unlikely to be held liable if accidents occur because staff members have, of their own free will, drunk too much!
And the survey found that it is men who are more likely to over-indulge with alcohol at the office party. They are likely to drink 9.6 units of alcohol while partying with colleagues on the big night (almost three times the recommended daily amount).
The average female office reveller will consume 5.6 units (more than twice the daily amount that health experts consider safe).
Top five party accidents
‘Walking into a wall or object' is one of the five most common office party mishaps. Passing out occurs even more frequently, as does falling off furniture or a stage.
Slipping on spilt drinks is the second most common party mishap with ‘falling over while dancing' topping the list of the most dangerous party activities.
Advice for party planners
It seems that the nation's party-loving workers have learned little from a 2004 report produced by the TUC and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, designed to help office party planners avoid injuries.
The report advised that dancing on desks was dangerous as office furniture "isn't as sturdy as pub and bar furniture".
"The boardroom table is meant for weighty documents not overweight executives," the guide added.
Photocopier injuries
The age-old office party tradition of photocopying parts of your anatomy was also discouraged since if the copier breaks "you will spend Christmas with glass in painful places".
In 2009, 2.31 million UK workers phoned in sick after the office Christmas party after drinking too much or having an accident.
While hangovers can normally be shaken off fairly quickly, party-related injuries tend to need more treatment. A fact that many workers might be all too aware of this Christmas.
But statistics suggest that there is a real risk of suffering a painful injury if you are involved in an alcohol-related accident at your work place's bash.
According to no win, no fee personal injury lawyers Claims Direct, over a million people have accidents at work each year.
If you suffer an injury through no fault of your own you could be entitled to compensation.
The possibility of accidents occurring during office parties are the reason why so many employers choose to hold their festive parties well away from work.
Yet a survey conducted by Aviva before the 2009 Christmas party season found that 61 per cent of UK businesses were still planning to hold an office-based party that year.
Partying through the recession
A quarter of people questioned in the survey said that the recession had given them cause to get more drunk and rowdy than at previous parties – a feeling which could well still apply 12 months later.
The research found that 15 per cent of workers have witnessed or experienced accidents at office parties.
Shockingly, 31 per cent of alcohol-related accidents at office parties resulted in trips to hospital for treatment.
Employers should have a duty of care to ensure that health and safety rules are taken into account by party planners. But they are unlikely to be held liable if accidents occur because staff members have, of their own free will, drunk too much!
And the survey found that it is men who are more likely to over-indulge with alcohol at the office party. They are likely to drink 9.6 units of alcohol while partying with colleagues on the big night (almost three times the recommended daily amount).
The average female office reveller will consume 5.6 units (more than twice the daily amount that health experts consider safe).
Top five party accidents
‘Walking into a wall or object' is one of the five most common office party mishaps. Passing out occurs even more frequently, as does falling off furniture or a stage.
Slipping on spilt drinks is the second most common party mishap with ‘falling over while dancing' topping the list of the most dangerous party activities.
Advice for party planners
It seems that the nation's party-loving workers have learned little from a 2004 report produced by the TUC and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, designed to help office party planners avoid injuries.
The report advised that dancing on desks was dangerous as office furniture "isn't as sturdy as pub and bar furniture".
"The boardroom table is meant for weighty documents not overweight executives," the guide added.
Photocopier injuries
The age-old office party tradition of photocopying parts of your anatomy was also discouraged since if the copier breaks "you will spend Christmas with glass in painful places".
In 2009, 2.31 million UK workers phoned in sick after the office Christmas party after drinking too much or having an accident.
While hangovers can normally be shaken off fairly quickly, party-related injuries tend to need more treatment. A fact that many workers might be all too aware of this Christmas.
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