The Impact of a Nonsmoking Policy on a USAF Medical Center
Abstract
This study investigated the results of the implementation of a strict nonsmoking policy at a USAF medical center. Areas of interest included changes in smoking behavior, attitudes toward the policy, and organizational behavior after policy implementation. A literature search revealed only five similar previous studies, none of which were conducted in a military organization. A survey was administered six months after policy implementation to the entire staff of 1613 employees. 934 were returned for a response rate of 57.9%. Smoking prevalence did not change significantly. The number of cigarettes reported smoked at work decreased by an average of 1.9 per workday. There were no indications of compensatory smoking off the job. Smokers differed significantly with nonsmokers in their amount of support for the policy. Using a constructed scale of response items, only 31% of the smokers approved of the policy while 89% of the nonsmokers approved. Organizational behavior areas examined included commitment, job satisfaction, smoker networking, break patterns, and perceptions of productivity decrease. The average daily time loss per smoker per day due to smoking breaks was calculated to be 49.5 minutes. Over 70% of the respondents reported a perceived decrease in productivity as a result of the policy. Theses.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA216736
Entities
People
- Mark E. Kain
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology