Annoyance from environmental tobacco smoke and support for no-smoking policies at eight large Dutch workplaces.

OBJECTIVE

To collect descriptive data on annoyance from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), attitudes toward smoking at the workplace, and support for a no-smoking policy.

DESIGN

Survey of eight large companies in four sectors of Dutch industry.

SUBJECTS

A representative sample of smoking and non-smoking employees (n = 1480).

RESULTS

Thirty-five per cent of non-smoking employees felt it was "annoying" to "very annoying" when their colleagues smoked during worktime, and 78% thought a smoky work environment was harmful to their health. About two-thirds of non-smokers "sometimes" to "often" experienced annoyance from ETS at their workplace. The individual solution approach (no explicit policy) is not only rejected by most nonsmokers but also by many smokers. In three sectors of industry, there was much support among employees for a smoking ban except for work areas designated for smoking.

CONCLUSIONS

These results could encourage more companies to implement smoking restrictions and they may be used as reference data by companies wanting to develop effective no-smoking policies.