Two Tips For Preventing Drunk Driving At Your Corporate Event
Approximately 1.1 million people were arrested for intoxicated driving in 2014, according to MADD. Not only does drunk driving put people at a higher risk of getting into an accident while on the road, you could be held partially responsible for accidents involving intoxicated employees if you serve alcohol at your corporate event. If you're keen on serving drinks at your business event, here are two tips for minimizing the risk employees will get behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence.
Limit the Number of Drinks Per Person
One way to keep employees from over-consuming alcoholic drinks is to limit the number they can get. This can be done using drink coupons that must be turned into the bartender whenever the person orders an alcoholic beverage.
According to MADD, the average person metabolizes one drink per hour. Therefore, tying the number of drinks a person can get to the number of hours the event is supposed to last can help prevent intoxication. For instance, if the party is scheduled to last two hours, then each person would only get two drink coupons.
Of course this isn't a fool-proof option. Some people may drink their two drinks sooner than expected and leave the party early. Others may acquire more drink coupons from other employees (you can prevent this by putting people's names on them). So it's a good idea to have a backup plan in place to catch outliers who may still find a way to get intoxicated.
Provide Transportation or Cool-Down Rooms
Another option is to provide alternative transportation options for people who have over-consumed alcohol. For instance, you can provide guests with vouchers for Uber or taxi rides home. If your company owns a fleet of cars, you can hire drivers to shuttle people home during and after the event. Just make sure it's okay with the venue that employees who drove to the event can leave their cars at the location overnight.
Alternatively, if your event is being held at a hotel, you can rent a few rooms for people to crash and sleep off the alcohol. You can notify people before the event so employees can sign up for them in advance if they plan on drinking at the party or going to nearby bars after the event. If paying for the rooms is not in the budget, negotiate a corporate rate with the hotel that's affordable to your employees.
For more ideas on preventing drunk driving at your corporate event or assistance with putting together a company event, contact a party planning company such as Deborah's Party Rentals.
