A profile of health risks among blue-collar workers

Despite national objectives for extending health promotion programs to blue-collar workers and to small work sites, baseline behavior information for planning such programs is lacking. This study seeks to describe the health risks and norms specific to a population of male, blue-collar gas pipeline workers in remote sites. These workers (n = 395) completed a health risk appraisal and a “health gauge” survey designed to measure nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, participatory patterns in health-enhancing activities, group norms, and change efforts. Selected behaviors were similar to those of other Texas men (eg, smoking 27% versus 26%) although others were not (eg, smokeless tobacco 18% versus 8%). Multivariate analysis confirmed the relationship of friends' behavior patterns, risk-taking, and interpersonal experience to four lifestyle health behaviors. With 75% or more of workers expressing an interest in various programs, the findings suggest that programming for this population can be successful if tailored to current behaviors and the worksite culture.