HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Moore, R. S Articles by Martin, S. E Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Moore, R. S Articles by Martin, S. E

Tobacco free workplace policies and low socioeconomic status female bartenders in San Francisco

Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Berkeley, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr R S Moore
Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 1995 University Avenue, Suite 450, Berkeley, CA 94704 USA; roland{at}prev.org

Study objective: Multiple studies have found that, compared with employees in other settings, workers in bars and restaurants have been exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke, putting them at increased risk for health complications. Among these bar employees are many women of low socioeconomic status (SES). Smoke free workplace ordinances have been extended to bars and restaurants in cities and states throughout the USA; some bars, however, continue to be out of compliance with these laws. The objective of this study is to assess the relation between bartender gender and smoke free workplace compliance in bars.

Design: This paper reports on analyses of observational data on compliance with smoke free workplace policy in 121 randomly selected bars together with qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with bartenders and patrons in bars.

Setting: San Francisco County bars.

Main results: Findings from this research showed that smoke free policy non-compliance was associated with bars in which women were bartenders, increasing their tobacco exposure compared with male bartenders. In interviews, although some female bartenders expressed ambivalence toward the smoke free ordinance, many others described experiencing positive health and social consequences when the bars in which they worked could eliminate interior smoking.

Conclusions: The analyses presented here shed light on the benefits of improving the workplace environment for low SES female bartenders through the extension of strong smoke free workplace policies to all workplaces, including bars.

Abbreviations: SES, socioeconomic status; ETS, environmental tobacco smoke; HLM, hierarchical linear modelling

Keywords: tobacco control policy; smoke free workplace policy; women; bartenders; social class

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Greaves, D. Vallone, and W. Velicer Special effects: tobacco policies and low socioeconomic status girls and women J. Epidemiol. Community Health, September 1, 2006; 60(suppl_2): ii1 - ii2. [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Greaves, D. Vallone, and J. Allen THE JECH GALLERY J. Epidemiol. Community Health, September 1, 2006; 60(suppl_2): ii33 - ii33. [Full Text] [PDF]