Drink aware iNDIA

1. The majority States/Territories adopting the Blood Alcohol Concentration (B.A.C.) of .05 as the legal limit for driving.
2. Increased police testing for drunk drivers.
3. Highly successful media advertising.
4. Training of hospitality employers and employees.
5. Licensing authorities discourage any forms of quick alcohol consumption

Responsible Service of Alcohol is not a flavor of the month issue; it is here to stay. To embrace the philosophy of R.S.A. in the home and in the hospitality industry we must change our focus on alcohol. In our country where beverage catering is a rage and is exponentially growing, it becomes our moral obligation to serve alcohol responsibly. Don’t go for short term benefits, but instead respect and value your profession and others health and well being. Your customers may get annoyed with you for the same reason on a particular event or even might throw their status and connections on you, but would appreciate your concern in the long run. We must adopt a formal policy for the Responsible Service of Alcohol for the following reasons:

1. To satisfy obligations imposed by licensing authorities.
2. To make your establishment more pleasant for staff and customers.
3. To avoid court action through injury caused by intoxicated customers to others or themselves.
4. To keep customers coming back to your establishment.

Governments through the licensing authorities are encouraging server of alcohol to adopt a House Policy that reflects Responsible Service of Alcohol. At the moment this is a voluntary Code of Conduct that, not many of the alcohol servers have adopted. But at IBOM, we would like every bartender graduating from our establishment to cultivate this awareness as a habit through these guidelines.

1. Do not serve alcohol to customers under the legal age.
2. Limit the number of customers on your premises to the licensed number. Do not overcrowd.
3. Do not serve intoxicated customers. Do not allow customers to become intoxicated on your premises.
4. Have a definite house policy that defines how to deal with intoxicated customers. Staff must be trained to put the policy into practice.
5. Promote food, especially snack-type meals.
6. Encourage a nominated driver policy. That is, offer the nominated driver non-alcoholic beverages. Some establishments offer these free to the nominated driver.
7. Make it easy for customers to access taxis.
8. Promote non-alcoholic and low alcoholic beverages.
9. Keep up with current training and policy on R.S.A.

If your House Policy on R.S.A. is to be successful it must become part of the organization’s culture. Staff and management must be proactive in enforcing the House Policy.

Even on the domestic scene society is demanding that we observe the principles of Responsible Service of Alcohol. It is not responsible to allow our relatives and friends to leave our homes intoxicated and drive a car.

In India a new segment of non alcoholic beverages is becoming a rage now that is Health Drinks which are becoming a rage now and is yet to be tapped majorly. These non-alcoholic cocktails and health drinks require the same skills to to prepare as alcoholic cocktails. Mocktails are more interesting to prepare and consume than the alternative soft drinks. They can be reasonably inexpensive to prepare and yield a high profit margin. Mocktails are becoming very popular especially at lunch times when customers have to return to work.

To help prevent customers from becoming intoxicated we need to understand some basic facts.

Identifying the intoxicated customer
As a rule customers should only be served alcohol if they can:

1. Stand up unassisted. (Except handicapped person)
2. Speak without a slur.
3. Walk across or to and fro from the bar without swaying.
4. Can order the drink.
5. Can efficiently produce the payment.
6. Can carry his drink glass properly without being sloppy.
7. Behave in a manner that is not loud or offensive to the other customers.

While looking for these signs of intoxication, you must be aware of the possibility that your customer is not intoxicated but may suffer from some physical disability. It is against the law to discriminate against people by refusing service on the grounds of their disability.

You will be aware that some people can drink more than others and seem as if they are not intoxicated. Some only need to consume a small amount of alcohol to become intoxicated.
We become intoxicated and cannot perform the above tasks if:

1. We drink too much too fast.
2. We have empty stomach.
3. We are under some medication.

Other factors, which will contribute to becoming intoxicated, are build, sex, and level of body fat.
 
Generally more than two standard drinks in the first hour and one standard drink every hour after that will give a man a blood alcohol concentration (B.A.C.) greater than 0.05%. (Most women will reach a B.A.C. of 0.05% after consuming fewer standard drinks than most men.) This formula can only be used as a guide because not all beers, wines and spirits are equally strong.