Men working in the construction industry have the highest smoking rate in the workplace of any occupational group, according to the results of a survey released by the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) on Wednesday.
The agency released the results, conducted via telephone in 2017, as part of a news conference in Taipei to mark the WHO’s World No Tobacco Day, which is today. The theme of this year’s even is tobacco and lunch health.
The average person’s career lasts 40 years, with at least eight hours spent in the workplace each day, Occupational Safety and Health Administration Deputy Director-General Lee Po-chang (李柏昌) said.
Spending every day in a smoking environment is detrimental to lung health, he said.
Having a nonsmoking policy would improve a company’s image, demonstrating that it values not only occupational safety, but also the health and welfare of its employees, he added.
Smoking accounts for 5.7 percent of medical costs globally, or a loss of 1.8 percent of global annual GDP, HPA Deputy Director-General Chia Shu-li (賈淑麗) said.
Workplace tobacco hazards not only endanger personal lung health, but could also expose coworkers and family members to second or third-hand smoke, she said.
The HPA has created a short video to urge workers to quit smoking, she added.
The 30-second video clip was released on the HPA’s YouTube channel on Monday.
Smokers’ risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — a type of long-term, untreatable inflammation of the respiratory tract — is 6.3 times greater than that of nonsmokers, said Yu Chong-jen (余忠仁), president of the Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and a vice superintendent at National Taiwan University Hospital.
About 45 percent of deaths caused by the disease could be attributed to tobacco use, he said.
Few people know that smoking could also increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) and TB-related deaths, he added.
Globally, about 7.9 percent of people with TB developed the disease due to smoking, Yu said, adding that TB is the 11th-biggest cause of death in the world.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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