Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170125
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Even in tobacco-growing Virginia, smoking restrictions are in place in more than three-quarters of the 1,005 businesses surveyed in a state health study released Wednesday.
Research by the Department of Health and the University of Virginia Center for Survey Research found that 76 percent of the businesses questioned had a written policy restricting smoking. The national average is 59 percent.
The survey last spring was based on 885 telephone interviews representing 1,005 businesses with 50 or more employees.
Nearly 78 percent of the businesses offered some type of health-awareness program in the preceding 12 months, ranging from first aid and injury prevention (61 percent) to weight management (22 percent).
Approximately 58 percent of the businesses offered flu shots, cancer screenings and programs to assess health risks such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Among businesses with more than 750 employees, 97 percent had such programs.
Nearly 84 percent said they had written policies on drugs, 80 percent had a formal alcohol policy, and 22.5 percent had policies on seat belts.
``This is the first large-scale study of what health-related programs are being offered by private Virginia businesses,'' said Thomas M. Guterbock, director of the Center for Survey Research. ``This is the first reliable data that shows how much progress there's been in Virginia work sites.''
Guterbock said the state was close to meeting the federal objectives adopted in 1991 that 85 percent of businesses with 50 or more employees have health-promotion programs by 2000.
Nearly 97.5 percent of the businesses surveyed offered some type of health insurance, and 83 percent of that insurance covered preventive medical care, such as physical exams, pap smears and mammograms.
by CNB