A successful gradual smoking cessation project at an industrial site

The Furukawa Electric Corporation has taken assertive measures to discourage smoking on the premises. To achieve our smoking cessation goals during the 2005–2014 period, we launched a series of initiatives to prevent passive smoking, increase awareness of the harms of smoking and of opportunities to quit smoking, support workers who wished to quit smoking, and discourage the uptake or resumption of smoking among nonsmokers. A detailed description of our initiatives appears in a paper published in Environmental and Occupational Health Practice.

Between 2005 and 2007, we reduced the number of designated smoking areas by 30%, removed tobacco products from vending machines, had occupational health professionals give seminars about smoking, and offered consultations to individuals who needed help to quit smoking. Between 2008 and 2012, we gradually moved towards the discontinuation of all tobacco sales on the premises and a prohibition on smoking during working hours. We also had designated days with 24-hour smoking bans. Beginning in 2013, we began preparations for having a complete smoking ban in force throughout the premises by 2020.

Analyses of smoking rates over time at our facility confirmed the effectiveness of our antismoking initiatives. The smoking rate for male employees decreased from 53.4% in 2003 to 24.1% in 2014, and the percentage of our male employees who smoked declined by 6.1% per year on average between 2005 and 2012. This rate of decline in smoking was much greater than the 2.7% annual rate recorded for Japanese men in general over the same period. This outcome confirms the value of gradual and sustained initiatives aimed at smoking cessation.

In conclusion, our work shows that employers can promote smoking cessation among their workers by persistently working to raise awareness of the dangers of smoking, providing support to workers who wish to quit smoking, and discouraging the initiation or resumption of smoking. The successful implementation of such initiatives requires strong relationships between workers and management and a commitment to the initiatives on the part of management, but the reduction in smoking-related morbidity and mortality more than justifies the effort.

Link to the original journal article:
https://doi.org/10.1539/eohp.2020-GPS02