Abstract:
The causative association between alcohol, cannabis use and accidents in the workplace
have been shown in some studies. The adverse effects of these on employee’s health,
work performance, public and industrial safety have also been researched internationally.
But there still remains a paucity of information on the knowledge, attitudes, practices and
prevalence of alcohol and cannabis use on diamond mines in South Africa even though
anecdotal evidence suggests widespread use that is on the rise.
As a result of this, effective intervention strategies to stem the rise have not been
developed.
This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, practices and prevalence of alcohol and
cannabis use amongst South African diamond miners.
It was a cross-sectional analytical study which ascertained the knowledge, attitudes and
practices of the miners in relation to alcohol and cannabis use through face to face
structured interviews. The prevalence of alcohol was ascertained through breathalyser
testing and that of cannabis through urine tests. The study site was a large diamond mine
located in the northern part of South Africa.
Individual written informed consent was obtained from each of the participants before
questionnaire interviews, breathalyser and urine tests were carried out.
All the interviews and tests were anonymous and unlinked. None of the test methods
were invasive. The questionnaire was tested in a pilot survey.
This research was commissioned by the Safety in Mines Research and Advisory
Committee (SIMRAC).
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The reported prevalence for alcohol was 44% whilst the tested prevalence was 1.4%.For
cannabis, the reported prevalence was 2.0% whilst the tested prevalence was 2.8%.The
significant factors associated with alcohol use were higher educational qualification and
type of work. Full time employees were more likely to have ever used alcohol. Reported
users of alcohol and cannabis started before starting work on the mines. An
overwhelming majority of the participants reported that alcohol and cannabis use could
lead to accidents on the mines. A large majority reported that intervention strategies such
as education, regular testing of employees and entertainment will decrease the use of
alcohol and cannabis.
Possible explanations for the patterns observed in the use of these substances have been
given and suggestions on how to influence the use of these substances have been made.
