Tobacco-free policies at worksites in Kansas

BACKGROUND: This study sought to examine the relationship between tobacco-free policies at worksites to worksite demographics such as company size and geographic location. METHODS: Worksites participating in a worksite wellness workshop were asked to complete a worksite wellness instrument, which provided an assessment of their wellness practices already in place in the worksite, including the degree to which tobacco-free policies were in place at the worksite. RESULTS: At a bivariate level, those more likely to have tobacco-free policies included: urban employers (76.8% versus 50% rural employers, p = 0.0001); large employers (> = 250 employees) (74.3% versus 43.1% small employers (<50 employees), p = 0.0003); and schools (69.4%) and hospitals (61.5%) (versus 35.5%, agricultural/ manufacturing employers, p = 0.0125). At the multivariate level, rural employers (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI 0.23, 0.95) and small employers (AOR = 0.34, 95% CI 0.16, 0.71) had decreased odds, compared to their urban and large employer counterparts, of having tobacco-free policies. CONCLUSIONS: Rural and smaller employers are less likely to have tobacco-free policies than their urban and large counterparts. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4277-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.