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Eliminating Tobacco
Use from the Workplace
Though hardly surprising, a recent analysis of nearly two dozen
studies confirms a relationship between workplace environmental
tobacco smoke and lung cancer.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have found a 24
percent increase in lung cancer risk among people exposed to passive
smoke in the workplace.
Workers who were highly exposed had a 100 percent increased (or
doubled) risk of lung cancer, and workers with a long history, or
duration, of exposure to passive smoke had a 50 percent increased
risk.
“We believe this provides the strongest evidence to date of the
relationship between workplace environmental tobacco smoke and lung
cancer,” said epidemiologist Leslie Stayner, lead author of the
study, which is published in this month’s American Journal of
Health.
He says the research has important policy implications for cities
and states that have not yet legislated smoking bans in bars and
restaurants where there are high levels of environmental smoke. It
might also be the final nail in the coffin of any argument for
allowing people to smoke in public buildings.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
first determined in 1991 that environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is
potentially carcinogenic to occupationally exposed workers, 27 years
after the Surgeon General issued the first report on smoking and
health in 1964, concluding that cigarette smoke causes lung cancer.
ETS contains many of the toxic agents and carcinogens
that are present in mainstream smoke, but in diluted form.
According to NIOSH, ETS meets OSHA’s criteria for classifying
substances as potential occupational carcinogens [Title 29 of the
Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1990]. NIOSH therefore recommends
that ETS be regarded as a potential occupational carcinogen in
conformance with the OSHA carcinogen policy, and that exposures to
ETS be reduced to the lowest feasible concentration. Employers
should minimize occupational exposure to ETS by using all available
preventive measures.
Worker exposure to ETS is most efficiently and completely controlled
by simply eliminating tobacco use from the workplace. To facilitate
elimination of tobacco use, employers should implement smoking
cessation programs.
To find out how to do this, refer to the American Cancer Society’s
“No Smoking: A Decision Maker’s Guide to Reducing Smoking at the
Worksite.” It says the most direct and effective method of
eliminating ETS from the workplace is to prohibit smoking there.
Until that is achieved, employers can designate separate, enclosed
areas for smoking, with separate ventilation. Air from this area
should be exhausted directly outside and not re-circulated within
the building or mixed with the general dilution ventilation for the
building.
Warning signs should be posted at the entrances to the workplace.
These signs should state that smoking is prohibited or permitted
only in designated smoking areas. If designated smoking areas are
provided, they should be clearly identified by signs.
Some key principles of a successful smoke free policy include:
• Focus on smoke, not the smoker;
• Focus on health and safety regarding ETS, not individual rights;
• Provide real and visible opportunities for employee participation
in policy planning and implementation; and
• Educate the workplace community about the hazards of combining ETS
and materials used in work processes.
I realize this is just a start, and there’s a long way to go, but
just consider how far we’ve come with regards to our attitude toward
smoking. It can be done. Your employees will thank you for it, too.
For more information on how to get it done, visit the American
Cancer Society’s website at
www.cancer.org.
Thanks and good luck.
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