Tobacco Control, Vol 6, 199-206, Copyright © 1997 by BMJ Publishing Group

Workplace smoking policies in the United States: results from a national survey of more than 100,000 workers

KK Gerlach, DR Shopland, AM Hartman, JT Gibson and TF Pechacek
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. kdg5@cdc.gov

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of smoking policies in indoor work environments as reported by a nationally representative sample of workers in the United States. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of households within the United States. SETTING: All 50 state and the District of Columbia, 1992-93. PARTICIPANTS: Currently employed indoor workers 15 years of age and older who responded to the National Cancer Institute's Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (n = 100,561). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The prevalence and restrictiveness of workplace smoking policies as reported by workers currently employed in indoor workplaces in the United States. RESULTS: Most of the indoor workers surveyed (81.6%) reported that their place of work had an official policy that addressed smoking in the workplace; 46.0% reported that their workplace policy did not permit smoking in either the public/common areas--for example, restrooms and cafeterias--or the work areas of the workplace. The reporting of these "smoke-free" policies varied significantly by gender, age, race/ethnicity, smoking status, and occupation of the worker. CONCLUSIONS: Although nearly half of all indoor workers in this survey reported that they had a smoke-free policy in their workplace, significant numbers of workers, especially those in blue-collar and service occupations, reported smoke-free rates well below the national average. If implemented, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration's proposed regulation to require worksites to be smoke-free has the potential to increase significantly the percentage of American workers covered by these policies and to eliminate most of the disparity currently found across occupational groups.
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