Alcohol-Use At The Workplace: The Case Of Police Divisions Operating Under The Accra Regional Command Of The Ghana Police Service

Abstract

Introduction –Alcohol-use at the workplace has been on the increase in recent times. Due in part to certain operational and functional demands at the workplace, employees of various organizations, including the police force have resorted to drinking alcohol before, during and after work, with dare ramifications on both the organization as a corporate body and the employees‘ physical, social and psychological health as individuals. Method - A cross sectional survey design involving self-completed questionnaires administered from November, 2015 to February, 2016 was use to collect data from three police divisions operating under the Accra Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service. A total of 200 surveys were successfully retuned and used for analysis. Data entry and analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 20) and Microsoft Excel 2010. Linear Regression Analyses was then used to test for hypotheses, with P < 0.05 denoting the statistical significance. Results -The study revealed a high prevalence of alcohol use in the study population, with officers who are married, parents and the male recording a higher intake of alcohol. The study exposed the ignorance of the police about the usefulness of substance abuse programs; and considered operational and functional demands at the workplace, including influence from colleagues‘ behaviours, as some of the causes of alcohol use at the workplace. Some of the effects recorded include low productivity, recklessness, medical conditions/hangover, misconducts, etc. Conclusion - There is the need for an effective substance abuse program distributed across every police station in Ghana, and managed by trained Social Workers to help officers who drink alcohol or at risk of drinking. In this case, police officers who drink would not be treated as offenders, but as people with respect and dignity who needed professional help in order to function again.