Employees of firms that actively discourage drinking are less apt to drink on or off the job, according to researchers at the University of Texas.

MedPage Today reported May 25 that study author Benjamin C. Amick, Ph.D., and colleagues from the school's Institute for Work and Health surveyed more than 5,000 workers at Fortune 500 companies. They found that those whose employers did the most to discourage drinking -- an assessment based on interviews with company managers -- were 45 percent less likely to be heavy drinkers, 54 percent less likely to drink frequently, and 69 percent less likely to drink at work, compared to workers at firms with the most permissive attitudes toward drinking.

Researchers said the study suggests that workplace social-norms campaigns aimed at problem drinking can have a positive impact that goes beyond the work hours of the day.

Overall, 40 percent of the workers surveyed were drinkers, 19 percent were considered heavy drinkers, 8 percent were classed as frequent drinkers, and 11 percent drank at work.

The study appears in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.