Volume 27, Issue 4: August, 2000

Abstract

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE ADOPTION OF WORKPLACE SMOKING POLICIES

Karen M. Emmons, PhD, Beti Thompson, PhD, Dale McLerran, Glorian Sorensen, PhD, Laura Linnan, MSEd, Karen Basen-Engquist, PhD, MPH, Lois Biener

Organizational-level variables that are hypothesized to influence the level of smoking policy restrictions and the prevalence of smoking control activities were tested in a sample of 114 worksites that participated in the Working Well Trial, a national trial of worksite health promotion. Predictors related to more restrictive policies included smaller size, larger percentage of white-collar workers, larger number of complaints about environmental tobacco smoke, less complexity, more formalization, and having a CEO who valued health and employees' well-being. The number of smoking control activities offered in a worksite was predicted by having a larger blue-collar workforce, a higher percentage of female employees, higher levels of workforce stability, and a CEO who valued health and employees' well-being. Efforts to identify predictors of companies' adoption and implementation of workplace-based policies and interventions are an important part of tobacco control efforts and will enhance future intervention and research efforts.