Risking health for the perfect puff

Sheesha waiters say their health is at risk because they must puff on customers' water pipes to draw smoke. Employers, however, say there is little they can do for them.

Part of a sheesha waiter's job is to ensure the customer's water pipe is properly lit and draws smoke cleanly. The sheesha waiter puffs heavily on the lit water pipe and blows out the smoke.

The worker also blows out dirty smoke from the head of the sheesha, where the tobacco is placed.

As a result, a sheesha waiter is smoking part of the customer's water pipe.

Many sheesha waiters are from Egypt and are known for being experts at perfecting the water pipe's smoke and flavour.

An age-old profession in the Middle East, a good sheesha waiter is prized for having a good sense of humour and an ability to make customers laugh.

Behind the light conversation and rapid fire jokes, sheesha waiters said their health is suffering, with many serving more than 200 water pipes on a busy night.

One sheesha water for a top Dubai hotel estimated fixing his customers' water pipes was the equivalent to "four or five full heads of tobacco."

He said sheesha waiters were not given any special health benefits. Most are paid between Dh1,000 to Dh1,500 a month.

"Yes, I know it's bad for my health, but what can I do?" one waiter on a Shaikh Zayed Road café told Gulf News: "I've come here to work, to earn my bread. There are no jobs and money in Egypt."

Another sheesha waiter from a café in Media City said the smoke hurts his lungs.

"I don't normally smoke. I feel the sheesha smoke has affected me after I stop work for two days or so. I feel it in my chest, like it's hurting, but what can I do? I'm here to work and make money."

In Jebel Ali, a sheesha worker said he puts on an act of puffing the smoke but does not inhale it so as to protect his health.

"Sheesha hasn't given me any health problems," he said, "because I don't smoke it in. Most sheesha waiters do, that's why they suffer." He added with a sly smile: "I don't even like sheesha. It's just my job."

The general manager of a company employing more than 100 sheesha waiters agreed to speak to Gulf News as long as his name and business were not mentioned. He said he felt sorry for them.

"Of course, sometimes I think what's he doing. Why on earth is he doing this work? But he has made that decision.

"Sometimes I sit in the restaurant, I'll be smoking a sheesha and I'll see a young man he can do anything, he can learn. I help them by giving them work I've done what I can do, the rest is up to them."

He said his company takes health complaints of sheesha waiters seriously. "If anybody has problems, we take them to the doctor. According to the doctor's report and the state of mind of the sheesha waiter, we try our best to transfer him to another section."

Few sheesha waiters, however, complained, he said. "Maybe it's happened once in five years with two workers."

They are generally hired because of their experience as shisha smokers. "Most of these guys ask to work as sheesha waiters because most of them have smoked a lot of sheesha."

For that reason, the manager said proving damage to their health was caused by the job was difficult.

"Some of them complain that their health is bad. They ask us for a transfer to a different part of the company. That is fine, but after work he goes to his place and smokes sheesha. How, after all that work, can they smoke sheesha at home?"

He concedes that the job is not good for a person's health but adds: "It's not just sheesha. A lot of workers suffer because of their work. Airport workers have bad hearing. Journalists need glasses."

One health professional said sheesha has the same dangers as smoking.

Sheesha, cigarettes and cigars cause cancer of the larynx, lungs, mouth and bladder, clogging of the arteries, heart attacks, strokes and stomach ulcers.

Smoking increases gastric juices raising the acidity level and eroding the stomach lining, according to Dr Suresh Puri, a lung specialist and head of pulmonary medicine at Welcare Hospital.

He said one sheesha head the top of the water pipe filled with tobacco is equivalent to 20 cigarettes.

Sheesha, he said, carries its own dangers. "There is still tobacco in sheesha and the scented fragrances they put in, such as vanilla, apricot or apple, can be dangerous to the lungs. It can cause reactions in the respiratory passage."

Nicotine and tar are still present in sheesha and it is not free from the harmful effects of smoke, said Dr Puri.

As victims of their own success, it would appear that sheesha waiters will be puffing away for the sake of others for some time yet.