Best practices in dealing with substance abuse in the workplace
- Authors: Mboniswa, Hlangalwethu
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Substance abuse -- Prevention , Alcoholism and employment -- South Africa , Employee assistance programs -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8542 , vital:26404
- Description: The research study was to identify what strategies could be used by organizations in managing or containing substance abuse in the workplace. In solving the research problems, the following actions were taken: A literature study was conducted to identify the scope and impact of substance abuse in the workplace; A literature study was also conducted to identify the strategies to prevent and contain substance abuse in the workplace;The findings from the literature studies were integrated into a model of best practices for the management of substance abuse in the workplace; The model was used as a basis for the development of a survey questionnaire to determine which strategies and wellness activities the surveyed companies were using. The questionnaire survey was administered at 25 companies in Port Elizabeth. The empirical results revealed that substance abuse was common at all organizations and the size of the organization had no bearing on the extent of the substance abuse problem. The majority of the participants in the study indicated that they experienced substance abuse problems in their organizations with alcohol consumption being the main problem at these organizations. The results also revealed that companies were not doing enough in terms of education and awareness campaigns. The lack of campaigns and education material could pose a difficult challenge to deal with and could result in companies experiencing adverse performance. Another contributing factor in the prevalence of substance abuse in the workplace was that alcohol and tobacco were referred to as socially acceptable substances.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Employees' perceptions of the South African Police Service's employee substance abuse prevention programme in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Smith, Janine
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employee assistance programs -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Substance abuse -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10009 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021183
- Description: Substance abuse is a major social issue within the South African Police Service (SAPS). To address this issue, the SAPS implement an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) as an intervention to address problems that may affect the work performance of employees. Despite the existence of this programme, substance abuse is still occurring and has a negative impact on work performance. This concern has fuelled the researcher to initiate this study. The goal of this study is to gain an understanding of Port Elizabeth SAPS employees’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the EAP substance abuse prevention programme. A qualitative research methodology, with a descriptive, exploratory and contextual research design was implemented. The researcher elected to use non-probability sampling, specifically, purposive sampling for this study. A sample of ten employees was chosen from an area demarcated for the purpose of the study, within the SAPS in Port Elizabeth. Data was collected through semi-structured, individual interviews. Interviews were continued until saturation point was reached. The interviews were analyzed according to the detailed guidelines set out by Tesch (in Creswell, 2003:192). The data was verified according to Guba’s principles (in De Vos, Strydom, Fouche & Delport, 2002:351). The researcher also employed the services of an independent coder in order to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. The perceptions of EAP as a substance abuse prevention programme, by employees of the SAPS in Port Elizabeth, have not been highlighted adequately within the South African context. The researcher’s study will hence contribute to the existing body of knowledge of the discipline.
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- Date Issued: 2014