Second Hand Smoking Effects

drawbacks of being a dealer which you must consider if you are interested in becoming a professional dealer.

A dealer has to put in very long hours at the casino and has to work on weekends and at odd hours. Also, a dealer has a very stressful job since he/she is always being monitored by the floor manager and the surveillance cameras. Dealers have to deal with several difficult players through the day and at the end of the day they are responsible for ensuring that the operations of the game go on smoothly without any delays.

Dealers and second hand smoke

However, one of the biggest disadvantages of being a dealer is exposure to second hand smoke. In most casinos, typically the players spend a few hours having fun while they enjoy their drinks. Smoking is quite common with drinks and since the dealers are right on the floor in the middle of all the action they are exposed to smoke all through the day, all days of the week. Being a dealer does not mean you must have to gamble with your health.

A dealer might develop a heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory illness etc if he/she is exposed to smoke for a number of years. Especially if the dealer is a non smoker the exposure to smoke might prove to be quite a dangerous thing.

The NIOSH research

The NIOSH or National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health had conducted a research on second hand smoke recently. The research focused on the exposure of non smokers to second hand smoke which confirmed that the dealers at casinos were in fact exposed to smoke.

Second hand smoke is also known as environment tobacco smoke and is made up of 4,000 different chemicals. 40 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer. According to NIOSH, dealers should not expose themselves to tobacco smoke involuntarily. Exposure to smoke increases the chances of various illnesses and dealers should be aware of it before they take up the dealers job. Various studies have shown that even low levels of tobacco smoke can be harmful.

Recommendations

The recommendations of NIOSH were:

• A no smoking policy should be introduced by casinos and a smoking cessation program should be developed for the casino dealers who smoke
• All the dealers and employees of a casino should be evaluated by a physician regularly
• There should be a health and safety committee which would address the health concerns of the dealers and other employees of the casino
• Smoking should be stopped near the entrances of the building since the air will easily enter the premises even if smoking is not allowed indoors.

Being a dealer would mean that you would be exposed to smokers all through the hours of your shift. It is advisable for individuals to keep this point in mind while deciding whether or not to take up dealing as a future career prospect.