Thursday, March 19, 2020

Smoking up a Storm

Blue-collar occupations have a higher number of smokers

Despite of all the public campaigns against smoking, many people still light up every day—and many of those people can be found working in blue-collar occupations. A recent study that followed over 5,000 Canadian workers for 16 years found that nearly a quarter of workers smoke daily.

9% were light smokers (6-8 cigarettes/day).
13% were heavy smokers (at least 14 cigarettes/day).
10% were former smokers (smoked at the beginning of the study but quit for at least 2 years by the end).
68% were nonsmokers.

Those in physically demanding jobs were 250 percent more likely to smoke than workers in low-exertion jobs. People who moved from low-exertion up to high-exertion jobs over the 16-year study were 50 percent more likely to be heavy smokers, while those who moved from high- to low-exertion jobs were 90 percent more likely to be smokers, suggesting that the habit is hard to break even when the job gets easier.

Common Job Characteristics of Heavy Smokers in the Study

67% were more likely to be a heavy smoker if they had low levels of decision-making authority over their tasks and low levels of task variety than those who had high levels.
37% were more likely to be a heavy smoker if their job was more psychologically demanding than less demanding jobs.
41% were more likely to be a heavy smoker if they had weak social supports than those with strong social supports.

Interested in quitting smoking and covered by a CLAC Health and Welfare Trust fund? Visit workhealthlife.com to access a variety of smoking cessation aids.

Source: iwh.com

Smoking up a Storm

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