Make Your Workplace Smoke Free
According to the American Cancer Society, medical costs decline by $47 in the first year a smoker quits, and by $853 more in the next seven years.
It is estimated that Kentucky spends over $1 billion dollars on diseases or conditions related to obesity and over a billion more on conditions caused or made worse by tobacco. When combined with lost indirect costs like productivity, paid sick leave, life and disability insurance the cost is even more alarming.
Creating a smoke free workplace can provide huge benefits to your business and employees including lower health insurance costs, increased productivity and reduce absenteeism. This guide from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help your business take steps to make a smoke free workplace a reality.
More Resources for Employers
The Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention has additional resources for specifically for employers. Visit their website to learn more about the costs of tobacco use to businesses and the benefits of a tobacco free workplace.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also has a step-by-step guide to implenting a smoke free workplace policy. Whether your conemplating a change or ready to take the first step, this guide can help. This fact sheet shows how smoke free policies have been proven to reduce smoking, which will lead to improved health of employees.
Use this online return on investment calculator for tobacco to estimate how much your company can benefit from a smoking cessation program.
Secondhand Smoke in the Workplace
Secondhand smoke is the smoke given off by a cigarette as it burns and the smoke exhaled by the smoker into the air. It exposes those people who are not smoking to many of the same carcinogens as smokers.
In 2006, the US Surgeon General released a report “The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke” that contains the most up- to-date data on the effects tobacco smoke has on the human body and the environment.
Some believe that proper ventilation will eliminate the risks of secondhand smoke, however this is not true. This fact sheet shows the failure of ventilation systems to control exposure to secondhand smoke.
Secondhand Smoke: Worker Health - The Americans for Nonsmoker's Rights has collected results of several studies on worker's health and smoking policies. (PDF - 46K)
For more information about tobacco cessation, visit the Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program in the Kentucky Department of Public Health.