Abstract
One of the requirements of the Osun State smoke-free legislation is to ensure smoke-free enclosed and partially enclosed workplaces. This survey was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude of workers in indoor bars, beer parlors and discotheques to smoke-free legislation in general and the Osun State smoke-free law in particular. A convenience sampling of 36 hospitality centers was conducted. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used to elicit responses about the objectives from non-smoking workers. The questionnaires had sections on knowledge of the Osun State smoke-free law, attitude toward the law and smoke-free legislation in general and exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke by the workers. Questions were also asked about the second-hand tobacco smoking status of these workers. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. We had 154 participants recruited into the study. There were 75 males (48.0%) and 79 females (52.0%). On the overall, respondents had a good knowledge of the effects of second-hand smoke on health (70.2%) with 75.0% of them being aware of the general smoke-free law and 67.3% being aware of the Osun State smoke-free law although none of them had ever seen a copy of the law. A high proportion (60.0%) was in support of the Osun smoke-free law although all of them think that the implementation of the law could reduce patronage and jeopardize their income. Attitude toward second-hand smoking was generally positive with 72.0% of them having no tolerance for second-hand tobacco smoke in their homes. Most participants (95.5%) had been exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace within the past week. Despite the high level of awareness of the respondents about the dangers of second hand smoke and their positive attitude to smoke-free laws, nearly all were constantly being exposed to second hand smoke at work. This calls for policy level interventions to improve the implementation of the smoke-free law.
Highlights
Second-Hand Smoke (SHS) is of great concern to hospitality workers who are exposed for more hours than most patrons [1]
Implications for public Our work found that despite 7 years of existence of the Osun State smoke-free law, and despite the fact that many of the workers in enclosed spaces in bars, beer parlors and discotheques had awareness, they were continuously exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke in their workplaces
Nigeria is a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) but currently does not have a comprehensive tobacco control law which is in compliance with the requirements of the treaty [10]
Summary
Second-Hand Smoke (SHS) is of great concern to hospitality workers who are exposed for more hours than most patrons [1]. Article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requires the adoption of effective measures to protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke in all indoor public places including indoor work places [10] This makes it imperative for policy-makers to provide complete protection to the population by ensuring that all indoor public places, indoor workplaces and public transport are free from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke [10,11]. The successful passage of a comprehensive tobacco control bill by the Osun State lawmakers in November 2009 left an opportunity for moving the national tobacco control process forward leaving the challenge of modalities for enforcing the existing law in the state [18] This was a survey of a convenience sample of workers in indoor bars, beer parlors and discotheques to assess their knowledge and attitude to smoke-free legislation in general and the Osun State smokefree law in particular. Questions were asked about the second-hand tobacco smoking status of these workers
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