Could workplace non-smoking policy reduce smoking behaviors? A multi-level analysis of a workplace smoking surveillance study

Introduction:To reduce smoking behaviors at work through non-smoking policy has been proposed over years. The study examined its effect based on a surveillance study conducted in Tao-Yuan county, Taiwan.

Methods: 7260 workers, selected by a stratified cluster random sampling method, participated in a telephone survey, which included the following variables: gender, anti-smoking knowledge and attitude, education, and martial status (level 1), occupations (classified based on ISCO-88) and non-smoking policy rate within occupations (level 2), and smoking behavior (outcome).

Results:Overall, prevalence of workers smoking was estimated to be 23.2%, and the smoking rate of skilled agricultural and fishery workers and craft workers are above 38%. Results showed that males smoke more than females, workers with low education level or weak anti-smoking attitude smoked more than their correspondent counterparts. Furthermore, smoking behavior was significantly different among jobs. Finally, the non-smoking policy is significantly associated with the decrease of smoking behavior after controlling the other variables.

Conclusion:Although smoking behaviors are distributed differently among jobs, the present finding suggests that organizations can be an effective change agent to reduce smoking behaviors and to promote healthy behaviors at work.