Workplace smoking bans don’t work

Limits or bans on smoking may keep smoke out of the workplace but they do little to curb the smoking habits of workers, according to a new study from Agnes Scott College and the University of California, Irvine, published in Health Economics. When workplace smoking bans—often a result of state clean indoor air laws—were first considered, many experts argued that in addition to protecting employees and customers from secondhand smoke, the bans also would limit the number of places smokers could indulge in their habit and thereby reduce the appeal of smoking altogether. It was hoped that the workplace limits on smoking would help smokers kick the habit.

Researchers looked at data on workers’ smoking behaviors from 1992 to 2007 in private businesses, government, schools, restaurants, and bars. In almost every sector, researchers found that state laws had very little measurable effect on how likely workers were to light up. The one exception was bartenders, among whom smoking rates fell after anti-smoking laws that applied to bars were passed. Many workplaces had already limited smoking; employees were already protected from secondhand smoke; and smokers were smoking where they could.

Discussion question: Are electronic cigarettes covered under your company’s smoking or tobacco use policy? Can employees use them in your workplace? Do these self-contained “cigarettes” continue a pattern of habituation and addiction? Read more at www.ecigarettesnational.com. We’ll offer workplace policy solutions as you address them and report back to the editor at publisher at health-eheadlines.com.

Smoke gets in your workplace. The majority of smokers worldwide support smoking bans in the workplace, according to a new study by RTI International and Harris Interactive. The study, published in the International Journal of Public Health online edition, surveyed more than 3,500 employees who smoke and more than 1,400 employers (both smokers and nonsmokers) in 14 countries about their attitudes toward workplace smoking and cessation. The results showed that 74% of smoking employees and 87% of employers felt that the workplace should be smoke-free.

The study also found that overall employees estimated spending an average of one hour per day smoking at work, but most employees did not believe that smoking had a negative financial impact on their employer. However, about half of employers interviewed did believe that smoking had a negative financial impact on their organization.

FREE article on smoking cessation. By Dean Hatfield, SVP and Health Practice Leader for Sibson Consulting, Employee Health and Productivity and Employer Dollars Are All Going Up in Smoke … Unnecessarily—examines the importance of smoking cessation programs and looks at how these programs can save on health care costs, now and later.

Report This Post