Advanced
search

To read this content please select one of the options below:

From muddiness to madness: an examination of decent work and mental health in the Ghanaian mining industry

Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah (Department of Organisation and HRM, University of Ghana Business School, Legon, Ghana)
Justice Mensah (Department of Organisation and HRM, University of Ghana Business School, Legon, Ghana)
Ruth Boakyewaa (Department of Organisation and HRM, University of Ghana Business School, Legon, Ghana)
Grace Asare (Department of Organisation and HRM, University of Ghana Business School, Legon, Ghana)

International Journal of Law and Management

ISSN: 1754-243X

Article publication date: 26 April 2023

Issue publication date: 5 June 2023

183

Abstract

Purpose

Building on the emerging literature on the psychology of working theory, this study aims to examine the impact of decent work on employees’ mental health as well as the association between the dimensions of decent work on employees’ mental health.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative data were collected from 260 employees working in the Ghanaian mining industry.

Findings

Data analysis showed a positive significant relationship between decent work and employee mental health. Furthermore, access to health care, adequate compensation and hours that allow for free time and rest related positively and significantly with employee mental health. However, the relationships between physical and interpersonal safe working conditions, organizational values that complement family and social values and employee mental health were not significant.

Originality/value

The findings extend the emerging literature relative to the influence of decent work on mental health in developing country context, specifically, sub-Saharan Africa where concerns for decent work have become extremely relevant because of the experience of extreme poverty and unemployment that characterize the region.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors did not receive support in cash or kind from a third party in the preparation of this work. Thus, the findings are devoid of any conflict of interest.

Funding: The study received no funding.

Data availability request: The data that support the findings are available from the corresponding author (Justice Mensah) upon request.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest and have no interest in the organizations studied.

Citation

Amponsah-Tawiah, K., Mensah, J., Boakyewaa, R. and Asare, G. (2023), "From muddiness to madness: an examination of decent work and mental health in the Ghanaian mining industry", International Journal of Law and Management, Vol. 65 No. 4, pp. 289-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-01-2022-0001

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles

Manage cookies

We’re listening — tell us what you think

Join us on our journey