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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Employee's perceived exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, passive smoking risk beliefs and attitudes towards smoking

T2 - a case study in a university setting

AU - Duaso, Maria

AU - De Irala, J

AU - Canga, N

PY - 2006/2

Y1 - 2006/2

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Female

KW - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Questionnaires

KW - Risk Assessment

KW - Spain

KW - Tobacco Smoke Pollution

KW - Universities

U2 - 10.1093/her/cyh038

DO - 10.1093/her/cyh038

M3 - Article

C2 - 15947023

SN - 0268-1153

VL - 21

SP - 26

EP - 33

JO - Health Education Research

JF - Health Education Research

IS - 1

ER -