IMPORTANT NOTICE
     As of June 30, 2007, funding for the built project ended. Though this site will not be updated, we will contine to maintain the many great resources that were developed with funds from California's tobacco tax (Proposition 99). We hope you will continue to utilize them with organized labor and blue collar populations.
     Hard copies of most of the materials may be obtained through the Tobacco Education Clearinghouse of California (TECC): www.tobaccofreecatalog.org.


The Facts About Built

"Building Trades Unions Ignite Less Tobacco"

What is built?

built - is designed to provide statewide outreach to workers and their Unions about tobacco use. The State Building and Construction Trades Council project is designed to do the following:

  • Provide resources on prevention and cessation of tobacco use

  • Educate members about the dangers of tobacco and the toxic hazards they work with on the job

  • Promote smoke-free environments at Union functions and on the job

  • Show how the tobacco industry has targeted blue collar workers and counter pro-tobacco influences


How is built funded?

  • Funding for built comes entirely from the State of California's Department of Health Services.


Why is built needed?

  • Construction workers are exposed more often than other workers to toxic materials that interact with smoking. For example, the combined effect of smoking and exposure to asbestos increases cancer risk 50-80 times.

  • Tobacco related Health Care costs are 9% of total funds. Heart disease alone accounts for 45% of tobacco-related costs.

  • Tobacco use shortens the life span and diminishes retirement. Our message is: "Don't ruin a good retirement which you have worked hard for. It is never too late to quit tobacco."


How does built work?

  • Through Local Unions--who distribute educational resources to their members and develop model policy language for Union settings. Union activists can join the BUILT Activists Network, to learn more about the hazards of tobacco and to gain skills to talk to fellow union members about prevention and cesstion.

  • Through Health and Welfare Trust Funds - who provide information about the benefits of smoking cessation to members and their families. By helping union members and their families to quit, the Funds help save lives as they save themselves money.

  • Through Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees - who include curriculum about the dangers of combining tobacco and toxic hazards in the Health and Safety training that they offer. The BUILT curriculum, Toxics and Tobacco on the Job, includes an insturctors guide that reviews the 4 stand-alone modules, sutdent guides in English and Spanish, a video -- No Butts About It, and supplements for Ironworkers, Roofers, Cement Masons and Insulators/Asbestos Workers. Additional craft supplements are in the works.

  • Through Labor-Management Committees - who develop voluntary work site policies and on-the-job cessation information and programs.




This information was made possible by a Grant funded by the Tobacco Tax Health Protection Act of 1988 - Proposition 99, through the California Department of Health Services (Contract #04-35308)

For more information about built call (916) 443-3302

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