The intention to quit smoking is one of the most important factors in smoking cessation. Long working hours is also a constant issue, and many studies have shown an association between the working hours and diseases, including cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. This study evaluated the relationship between working hours and the intention to quit smoking among Korean male office workers, and blue collar workers for comparison.

This study was based on the Seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016–2017). A total of 1,389 male workers were smokers, and then office workers and blue collar workers were selected. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for the intention to quit smoking according to smoking-related characteristics and working hours after adjusting for age group, body mass index (kg/m²), marital status, household income (quartile), educational level, drinking, exercise, smoking-related characteristics (smoking initiation age, smoking amount, and attempt to quit smoking more than 1day in the past year) and working hours.

The percentage of workers who had the intention to quit smoking in 6 months was higher in office workers (38.9% for office workers and 29.4% for blue collars, p = 0.017). Blue collar workers had higher percentages of workers who worked more than 52 hours per week (19.8% for office workers and 38.9% for blue collar workers, p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that working > 52 hours per week was significantly associated with a lower intention to quit smoking within 6 months among male office workers (OR = 0.30, 95% confidence interval = 0.14–0.66).

Working more than 52 hours per week was positively related with a lower intention to quit smoking among currently smoking male office workers. Further studies are needed considering more work-related variables such as job stress and physical load.

Previous studies have classified cameramen’s job as physiologically heavy work and identified the risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in cameramen. However, those studies limited their research subjects to cameramen. In this study, we compared the frequency and severity of WRMDs between cameramen and office workers.

A total of 293 subjects working in four broadcasting companies in Korea were recruited. A questionnaire survey was conducted for a month, starting in October 2016. The subjects were divided into cameramen and office workers according to their occupation. We compared the frequency and severity of WRMDs and ergonomic risk assessment results between the two groups.

The high-risk WRMD group had a higher proportion of cameramen than office workers. Moreover, the high ergonomic risk group also had a higher proportion of cameramen than office workers for WRMDs in the upper extremities and waist+lower extremities. In the multivariable-adjusted model comparing cameramen and office workers, the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for high-risk WRMDs was 3.50 (95% CI: 1.92–7.72) for the upper extremities and 3.18 (95% CI: 1.62–6.21) for the waist and the lower extremities. The ORs by body parts were 3.11 (95% CI: 1.28–7.57) for the neck, 3.90 (95% CI: 1.79–8.47) for the shoulders, and 4.23 (95% CI: 1.04–17.18) for the legs and feet.

Our study suggests that cameramen are at high risk of WRMDs. Workplace improvements and management of the neck, shoulders, and lower extremities, which are susceptible to WRMDs, are necessary to prevent musculoskeletal disorders among cameramen.