Two glasses of martini, one red and one blue at a sidewalk bar in Washington, DC. (UPI/Billie Jean Shaw)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- According to a new study, people who work 48 hours a week or more are likely to drink alcohol more heavily.

The study looked at data from over 330,000 people in 14 different countries. It found people who work more than the average work week were 11 percent more likely to engage in heavy drinking. Heavy drinking is considered 14 drinks or more per week for women and 21 drinks or more per week for men.


Considering the study analyzed people from 14 countries, 11 percent translates to 2 million people drinking heavily because of their jobs, Cassandra Okechukwu of the Harvard School of Public Health wrote in an editorial for the study.

"The workplace is an important setting for the prevention of alcohol misuse, because more than half of the adult population are employed," wrote the team of researchers. "Further research is needed to assess whether preventive interventions against risky alcohol use could benefit from information on working hours."

The study was published in the British Medical Journal.