"And I remember the smoke
that another wind carried away."
Rafael Alberti.
For years, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been insisting that tobacco causes significant health problems, and therefore recommends that preventive and informative programs be carried out to combat this epidemic.
The consequences of tobacco consumption are very serious for active smokers - in large or small quantities - as well as for passive smokers. One of the first significant respiratory conditions in smokers is persistent cough, expectoration and chronic bronchitis, and approximately 50% of lung cancer cases originate from tobacco.
Likewise, smokers are more exposed to cardiovascular diseases such as angina pectoris and myocardial infarction.
The risk of arteriosclerosis in the arteries of the lower extremities is also much more frequent among tobacco users, and, on the other hand, smokers of more than 20 cigarettes are twice as likely to suffer from cataracts.
On the other hand, it is proven that tobacco reduces an average of 10 years of life for smokers, depending on the time and frequency of consumption, and that it can lead to problems of impotence and frigidity. In addition, at a general level, tobacco prevents relaxation, concentration and produces stress.
The physical, psychological and social consequences that smoking entails make it a real labor problem.
It is known that smokers are twice as likely to be absent from their jobs as a result of illness. In addition, tobacco hinders concentration and causes a greater number of work accidents and occupational diseases.
In countries such as the United States, Canada, France and Sweden, companies are sensitive to this problem and carry out preventive and informative programs in the workplace.
In Spain, there are some companies that in recent years, and, especially, since the enactment of the Law on the Prevention of Smoking, have begun to implement various programs, since they consider that workers are their best resource. Investing in preventive or intervention programs is profitable for many reasons, especially if one takes into account that they can achieve a decrease in absenteeism, a greater level of protection of the health and safety of workers, an improvement in performance, greater quality of life and a better work dynamic.
In our country there is still much reluctance to consider the fact that problems of this type should be addressed within the labor framework, although the number of workers and employers who are changing attitudes that facilitate the adoption of solutions and improvements is increasing. It is evident that acting against smoking is profitable if one takes into account the personal, psychological, social and labor advantages that are achieved. And as the poet said: "The throbbing star / knows it in the dark night. / Smoke knows it in the sky / and ash in the fire".
Francisco Arias Solis
