Category: Smoking
COPD Awareness
November is National COPD Awareness Month and November 17, 2021 is World COPD Day. This year’s theme, “Healthy Lungs – Never More Important,” highlights that even during the COVID pandemic, COPD remains a leading cause of death worldwide and it remains important to focus on lung health. COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsWorkplace Smoke-Free Policies and Cessation Programs
Nearly half a million Americans still die prematurely from tobacco use each year despite the fact that it is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the U.S.1, 2. So what can be done to prevent the toll of smoking in the U.S.? The workplace is an important setting for implementing Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentNew Research on Worker Tobacco Use
An estimated one in five working U.S. adults use some type of tobacco product according to new research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Of the estimated 32.7 million working adults who used tobacco, an estimated 6.9 million use two or more tobacco products Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsWorkplace Secondhand Smoke Exposure During Pregnancy: Who is protected?
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, and avoiding this preventable health hazard is particularly important for the health of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with chronic diseases such as lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and stroke and with adverse reproductive effects, including low birth Read More >
Posted on by 18 CommentsTobacco in the Workplace
More than half a century has passed since the first Surgeon General’s Report on the health consequences of smoking. Over that 50-year period, cigarette smoking in the U.S. has declined by more than 50% among all U.S. adults. However, tobacco use continues to be the most frequent cause of preventable death and is responsible Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsLong-Haul Truck Driver Health Survey Results
The most recent issue of CDC Vital Signs highlights a few of the safety risks faced by truck drivers. Truck drivers also face health risks that can affect their livelihood. Limited illness and injury data for long-haul truck drivers prompted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct the National Survey of Read More >
Posted on by 32 CommentsOccupations with High Obesity Prevalence in Washington State
If work and the workplace contribute to poor health behaviors, should employers attempt to improve those behaviors? It likely is in the employer’s best interest to do so. Poor health behaviors can lead to chronic disease. Workers with chronic disease may be at higher risk for workplace injury, have more absenteeism, and diminished productivity Read More >
Posted on by 12 CommentsReducing Worker Exposure to ETS
What better time than during the American Cancer Society’s annual Great American Smokeout, to highlight the benefit of comprehensive smoke-free workplaces on the health of workers. Furnishing a smoke-free work environment has been shown to both reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among non-smokers, and also to decrease smoking among employees. In Massachusetts, recent Read More >
Posted on by 6 CommentsWarning: Surgeon General Finds that Cigarette Smoking Is Even More Dangerous to Your Health
Yesterday, the Surgeon General issued the 30th Surgeon General's Report on the dangers of smoking tobacco. Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and is responsible for 443,000 deaths each year. Tobacco use can increase risk of illness for those exposed to carcinogens in the workplace and second-hand smoke can place non-smoking workers at risk for smoking-related diseases. Read More >
Posted on by 34 Comments