Bar staff qualification 'could help curb binge drinking in Hong Kong'
Bar and restaurant staff in Hong Kong should be required to obtain an industry qualification on how to serve alcohol responsibly before they can work at a licensed venue to curb the blight of binge drinking and other alcohol- related problems, says the head of a concern group.
"It's something we will explore in our next meeting in two weeks," said Shaine DeVenny, chairwoman of the Forum for Responsible Drinking, an industry-backed group formed in 2010.
Some of the biggest names in wines, beers and spirits are on the board and the group aims to address four issues: drink-driving, binge drinking, underage drinking and consuming alcohol while pregnant.
Over the past five years, the group - which includes representatives from Carlsberg, Heineken, San Miguel and Pernod Ricard - has only focused on drink-driving and binge drinking, a direction it will keep as it feels these are the issues most "relatable" in Hong Kong.
On the proposal for a mandatory qualification, DeVenny, managing director of alcohol distributor Moet Hennessy Diageo, said an industry certificate for all staff serving alcohol in Hong Kong could be similar to one in Australia called the Responsible Service of Alcohol, which can be completed in three hours and is compulsory for all bar staff.
"If the industry could support that, I think it would be a great qualifier for a person's résumé," she said.
In recent years, the group has produced two pamphlets distributed at driving schools, aimed at educating new drivers who are often at an age where they are trying alcohol for the first time.
Neil Wong from the Hong Kong Bartenders Association welcomed the idea but said that a short course for bar staff on social responsibility was held in 2010 and attracted just 35 participants.
He said the course was now taught as part of the association's bartending course as this was a more cost-effective way of doing it.
A spokeswoman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said when it approved a liquor licence for a venue, there was no requirement for staff to have qualifications regarding the service of alcohol.
Nearly three in 10 drinkers engaged in binge drinking at least once last year, according to an annual behavioural risk factor survey commissioned by the Department of Health.
This was up from 2012, when about a quarter reported that they had engaged in binge drinking in the past year.
Binge drinking is defined as five or more standard drinks in a single session.
