Release Date: Wednesday 9 April, 2003

PASSIVE SMOKING A HEALTH RISK FOR HOSPITALITY STAFF

Staff in the hospitality industry have the highest exposures to passive smoking of any occupational group, and there is strong and consistent evidence that these exposures have harmful health effects, according to an international expert.

Professor Alistair Woodward, Professor of Public Health at the Wellington School of Medicine, University of Otago, says studies of bar and restaurant workers have found that passive smoking causes acute respiratory symptoms and lung cancer. Speaking at the 2nd Australian Tobacco Control Conference in Melbourne, Professor Woodward said a recent Australian study found that hospitality workers who worked in smoky venues were more likely to experience symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, sore eyes and sore throat, and that this likelihood increased with the length of their shift. Professor Woodward said that studies also showed the risk of suffering from acute respiratory symptoms such as irritation of the eyes, nose and throat decreased with the introduction of smoking bans. "A recent study found that following the introduction of smoking bans in bars, bartenders experienced a significant fall in the level of respiratory symptoms such as wheezing, coughing, and eye and nose irritation." Professor Woodward said that international studies have found non-smoking hospitality staff have a higher risk of contracting lung cancer. "This risk is unlikely to be due to other occupational factors, as there was no excess risk of lung cancer in staff who worked in areas where smoking is not allowed, such as kitchen staff." Professor Woodward says lung cancer is not the only health risk facing staff who work in smoky workplaces. "Health conditions associated with exposure to second hand smoke include heart disease and stroke, asthma, cancers other than lung cancer, and low birth weight babies for pregnant women." Tests of nicotine levels in bar and restaurant workers hair have found that workers who work in venues with partial smoking bans register much higher levels of nicotine than workers in venues that are completely smokefree. "This shows that partial smoking bans do not remove the health risks of passive smoking for hospitality workers," Professor Woodward said.

For more information please contact Zoe Furman on (03) 9635 5517 or email zoe.furman@cancervic.org.au