Workplace smoke-free policies and cessation programs
Nearly half a million Americans still die prematurely from tobacco use each year despite the fact that it is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the U.S.1, 2. So what can be done to prevent the toll of smoking in the U.S.? The workplace is an important setting for implementing tobacco control interventions. 3, 4 However, data on smoke-free workplace policies and cessation programs are limited. A new study from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Research (NIOSH) researchers published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine assessed smoke-free workplace policies and employer-offered cessation programs among U.S. workers, by industry and occupation. This information can help target public health efforts to reduce tobacco use.
Smoke-free policies in indoor public places significantly improve indoor air quality and reduce secondhand smoke exposure. These policies can also help change social norms regarding the acceptability of smoking. Smoke-free policies can prevent young people from starting to smoke and help smokers quit. They are also associated with reduced heart attack and asthma hospitalizations among nonsmokers.2,3 The NIOSH research found that 80% of indoor workers reported having smoke-free policies at their workplace. By industry, 91% of those working in education services were covered by a 100% smoke-free policy. Those working in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting reported the least coverage with only 64% of workers in those industries covered by a 100% smoke-free policy. Some workplaces offered partial smoke-free policies allowing some smoking in public or work areas. Just over 23% of workers in the mining industry reported coverage by partial smoke-free policies in the workplace. Workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries and those in the farming, fishing, and forestry occupations were most likely to report no smoke-free policy in their workplace. By sociodemographic characteristics, those least likely to be covered by a 100% smoke-free policy were workers aged 18–24 years, male and Hispanic. Additionally, those with a high school education or less, an annual household income less than $35,000, and living in the South had less access to a 100% smoke-free workplace.