Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 26, Issue 2, March 1997, Pages 248-256
Preventive Medicine

Regular Article
Relationship of Organizational Characteristics of Canadian Workplaces to Anti-smoking Initiatives,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1006/pmed.1996.0135Get rights and content

Abstract

Background.In Canada, with universal single-payer health care insurance and a lower proportion of the gross domestic product going to health care costs, employers may be less motivated than their U.S. counterparts to develop health promotion programs for their employees. This study determined the extent to which nongovernmental workplaces in Canada have made smoking-related information, policies, and programs available to their employees. Several characteristics of those workplaces most likely to have engaged in such activities were identified.

Methods.A secondary analysis of data collected in the 1992 National Workplace Survey was conducted. All Canadian provinces, except Saskatchewan, were included. Dunn and Bradstreet's register of companies was used to select companies randomly from those with 20 or more employees. Questionnaires were distributed to 10,000 workplaces. The response rate was 35.5% (N= 3,549). There were no significant differences found between responders and nonresponders in a phone survey.

Results.One-half of workplaces reported some kind of smoking-related initiative. Most of the initiatives were smoking policies; only 11.7% of workplaces provided smoking cessation programs. The number of employees and the number of other lifestyle and occupational health and safety programs available are most predictive of smoking-related programs.

Conclusion.If Canadians are going to achieve a smoke-free society, greater efforts to assist smokers to quit will be necessary. The workplace provides an excellent opportunity for such efforts. Health promotion advocates must communicate the cost savings and other benefits to employers garnered from workplace smoking reduction efforts.

References (57)

  • L Green et al.

    The changing context of health promotion in the workplace

    Health promotion in the workplace

    (1994)
  • C, Lovato, L, Green, G, Stainbrook, 1994, The benefits anticipated by industry in supporting health promotion programs,...
  • V, Shehadeh, M, Shain, 1990, Influences on wellness in the workplace: a multivariate approach, Health & Welfare Canada,...
  • B Danaher

    Smoking cessation programs in occupational settings

    Public Health Rep

    (1980)
  • N Sofian et al.

    Tobacco control and cessation

  • R Bertera

    The effects of workplace health promotion on absenteeism and employment costs in a large industrial population

    Am J Public Health

    (1993)
  • K Conrad et al.

    Effect of worksite health promotion programs on employee absenteeism: a comparative analysis

    AAOHN J

    (1990)
  • J Eickhoffshemek et al.

    A comparison of Omaha worksite health promotion activities to the 1992 national survey

    Am J Health Promot

    (1995)
  • B Flynn et al.

    Cigarette smoking control strategies of firms with small work forces in two northeastern states

    Am J Health Promot

    (1995)
  • D Iverson

    Smoking control programs: premises and promises

    Am J Health Promot

    (1987)
  • L Dawley et al.

    Worksite smoking control, discouragement, and cessation

    Int J Addict

    (1993)
  • A Griffiths

    The benefits of employee exercise programs

    Work Stress

    (1996)
  • D Hennrikus et al.

    Worksite intervention for weight control

    Am J Health Promot

    (1996)
  • Am J Health Promot

    (1993)
  • Health & Welfare CanadaOttawa, 1991, Canadians and smoking: an...
  • Health & Welfare Canada, 1991, Corporate health model: a guide to developing and implementing the Workplace Health...
  • W Millar et al.

    Smoking in the workplace 1986

    Can Public Health

    (1989)
  • U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1989, Reducing the health consequences of smoking: 25 years of progress....
  • Cited by (7)

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    This research was supported in part by a Research Scholar Award from the B.C. Health Research Foundation (C. J. Frankish), Postdoctoral Research Fellowships from the National Health Research Development Program of Health Canada (J. L. Johnson), the Medical Research Council of Canada (P. A. Ratner), and the Sociobehavioral Cancer Research Network of the National Cancer Institute of Canada (C. Lovato). The authors also gratefully acknowledge the direct funding support of the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute and Health Canada.

    ☆☆

    M, P, O'DonnellJ, S, Harris, editors

    2

    To whom correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed at the Institute of Health Promotion Research, Room 308, Library Processing Centre, 2206 East Mall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z3, Canada.

    View full text