According to the study, in 1999, 70 percent of employees worked for companies that had implemented smoke-free-workplace policies, an increase from 46 percent in 1993. For the study, a smoke-free workplace was defined as one where smoking is prohibited in public spaces and work areas, including individual offices.

The report found that the Northeast and West regions had the most smoke-free workplaces, while the Midwest and South, where tobacco is grown and used more heavily, had the fewest smoke-free businesses.

The study, which was based on responses from 270,000 workers nationwide, showed that in Utah, 84 percent of workers are covered by anti-smoking policies, followed by Maryland, California, Massachusetts, and Vermont.

But in Nevada, only 49 percent of workers were in smoke-free offices, followed by Kentucky, Indiana, South Dakota, and Michigan.

"There is a direct correlation between a community and a state enacting strong laws to protect workers from secondhand smoke and the number of workers who this study finds are protected," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an anti-smoking group in Washington, D.C.

The study is published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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