Employee's perceived exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, passive smoking risk beliefs and attitudes towards smoking: a case study in a university setting

Abstract

Despite the growing literature on workplace smoking policies, few studies have focused on the implementation of such policies in university settings. Smoking in the workplace is still very common in many countries, including Spain. While the law is about to change and more non-smoking policies are to be implemented, it is not clear what kind of restrictions Spanish workers would find acceptable. This study investigated perceived exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), passive smoking risks beliefs and attitudes towards smoking at the University of Navarra (Spain). A questionnaire was sent by E-mail to 641 randomly selected employees and a response rate of 70.4% was obtained. The survey results suggest that 27.3% of the university employees were smokers and 26.6% were exposed to ETS on a daily basis. The majority of respondents (81.7%) supported a restrictive non-smoking policy. Acceptance among active smokers was significantly lower (59.2 versus 89.3%). Smoking prohibition with the provision of smoking areas was the most favored option (46.9%). Results suggest that employees are ready to restrict smoking in the university, but there was not enough support for a total ban. Employers considering adopting a ban on smoking should be encouraged to conduct a similar survey to identify potential barriers to policy implementation.

Implementation, barriers and challenges of smoke-free policies in hospitals in Egypt

“…In addition, we observed that the only tobacco control policy statement on which knowledge differed among the 3 smoking status groups was the health hazards of exposure to SHS in the workplace, where a significantly lower proportion of current smokers agreed with the statement compared to the other two groups (ex and never smokers). This is consistent with the findings of Duaso et al 2006, who compared the beliefs of smokers and non-smokers on the risks of SHS and found that perceived risks were significantly higher among non-smokers [20]. …”

Tobacco-related risk perceptions, social influences and public smoke-free policies in relation to smoke-free home restrictions: findings from a baseline cross-sectional survey of Armenian and Georgian adults in a community randomised trial

“…SFH restrictions are more common among those with children in the home (especially children less than 5 years old21 and with non-smoking family members in the home 22. Increased knowledge and perception of the harms of SHSe are also shown to be associated with more favourable attitudes towards smoke-free environments,23 better efforts to reduce exposure24 25 and adoption of complete SFH restrictions 16 20. Indeed, Georgia-based research indicates that, while the majority of adults believe that SHSe is harmful, homes continue to be a primary source of SHSe15 and common efforts to reduce its impact include partial restrictions (eg, limiting rooms where smoking is allowed) 26.…”

Perceptions of harm from secondhand smoke exposure among U.S. adults, 2009–2010

“…Awareness of the adverse health effects of SHS exposure is an especially important factor shaping public attitudes towards smoke-free policies [ 21 ]. Research indicates that increased knowledge about the harmfulness of SHS is associated with greater efforts to minimize exposure [ 22 , 23 ], reduced SHS exposure among both smokers and nonsmokers [ 22 – 24 ], and adoption of smoke-free home rules [ 25 , 26 ]. Increased awareness of the adverse health effects of SHS exposure is also associated with lower smoking initiation among youth [ 27 ] and more favorable attitudes toward smoke-free environments [ 1 , 19 , 28 ].…”