The Utah Department of Health released a report that says residents who are in construction or manufacturing are more likely to smoke or binge drink than those in other occupations. This is alarming because construction tends to be an industry with a higher rate of injury anyway, and things like smoking or excessive drinking can hinder recovery if a worker is injured, or can exacerbate the initial injury.

Researchers conducted a phone survey of 10,000 people and asked where they worked, what their insurance status was, and what their smoking and drinking habits were among other questions. They classified a smoker as someone who smokes some days or every day and has had more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. They said binge drinkers were defined as having five or more drinks at once for men, and four or more for women.

On average, 11 percent of Utah adults smoke but researchers found that 19 percent of construction workers admitted to smoking while 16 percent of manufacturing workers did. About 15 percent of adults reported that they engaged in binge drinking, while 22 percent of construction workers did and 21 percent of manufacturing workers did. Educators had the lowest rates of both, at three percent for smoking and six and a half percent for binge drinking.

Office workers, sales people and administrative workers said that they had high levels of stress and about 12 percent experiencing mental distress. Business and finance workers had the lowest levels of mental distress at six percent. The researchers said they cannot connect the occupations themselves to the higher rates of drinking or smoking. Construction workers tend to have up to a high-school education and male, two factors that see higher rates of smoking and drinking in general.

Construction workers also reported a substantially lower rate of health care coverage than the state average of 85.8 percent, with 77 percent reporting they had insurance.

The president and CEO of the state’s Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, Chris DeHerra, said that some work can be far away and will take employees away from their families for a period of time which may contribute to these habits, though the chapter tries to keep worksites substance free. Though in a statement she said she did not think the numbers were that high. Maybe this report will serve as a wake-up call to those in the industry and those who work on their behalf to try and get the numbers lower by next year. Though they are legal substances, the evidence is out there of what they can do to your health and that should be the most important thing.