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Secondhand Smoke in the Workplace


Benefits of a Smoke-Free Workplace | How to Get Your Workplace to be Smoke-Free | More Information | Organizations

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 promises job safety and health protection for workers by providing safe and healthful working conditions. The Environmental Protection Agency now states that exposure to secondhand smoke greatly increases the chances of developing lung cancer and other serious respiratory problems.

In general, ventilation or filtration of air in the workplace to remove secondhand smoke is futile. It’s like trying to filter a lake to control water pollution. The only viable approach to protect nonsmokers is source control: making the entire building smoke-free or restricting smoking to a separately ventilated area that nonsmokers never have to enter.
 

Benefits of a Smoke-Free Workplace

The greatest benefit is, of course, the removal of all the health risks associated with secondhand tobacco smoke. Workers will also experience the immediate benefit of a cleaner and safer workplace.

The business itself will realize several benefits from a smoke-free policy:

  • The company rduces it liability from possible lawsuits from nonsmoking employees affected by secondhand smoke.
     
  • It is estimated that every smoker costs his or her company, on average, $1,300 a year.
     
  • The company’s life, health, and fire insurance premiums may be lower if smoking is not allowed on the premises.
     
  • The company will realize other cost savings because computer equipment, furniture, carpets, and other furnishings last longer and need less maintenance in a smoke-free environment.
     
  • Most companies document an improvement in employee morale after establishing a nonsmoking policy. A recent survey found that only 5% of Americans oppose any smoking restrictions in the workplace.
     
  • A well-planned smoking policy sends the message that the company is concerned about the health and well-being of its employees.
     
  • Most smokers want to quit, and workplace restrictions can provide another reason to stop.
     
  • Once a smokefree policy is implemented, it almost always becomes self enforcing. Because both management and employees usually support such policies, compliance is high. Thus, a smokefree policy can decrease the time and energy management has to spend on the tobacco issue.

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How to Get Your Workplace to be Smoke-Free

  • Speak with, or write a memo to, the person in charge of making company policies. Be sure to include the facts about the health hazards of secondhand smoke. Position yourself as someone who is not bringing a complaint or a problem, but a solution. Then help provide the right solution for your work environment.
     
  • If you have co-workers who smoke, be sympathetic and understanding, and support their efforts to quit. Let them know that tobacco smoke affects everyone, not just them. Work with them to design a smoke-free plan that everyone can live with.
     
  • Also, be sure your company’s benefits administrator looks into insurance plans that offer premium breaks for smoke-free workplaces.

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More Information

Making Your Workplace Smokefree: A Decision Maker's Guide
This 50-page guide was prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help employers a smokefree policy in the workplace.

Taking Action Against Secondhand Smoke

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Organizations

Many national and local health organizations provide information about the health hazards of secondhand smoke and expert help in establishing smoke-free workplace policies. Below is a selected list.

  • Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
    Produces materials on a variety of smoking and health topics for the public with emphasis on legal action to protect nonsmokers' health.

    Action on Smoking and Health
    2013 H Street, N.W.
    Washington, DC 20006
    (202) 659-4310
    (202) 833-3921 (fax)
    http://ash.org/ash/ (Internet)
  • Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR)
    Provides information to organizations and individuals to assist in passing ordinances, implementing workplace regulations, and developing smoking policies in the workplace.

    Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights
    Suite J
    2530 San Pablo Avenue
    Berkeley, CA 94702
    (510) 841-3032
    http://www.no-smoke.org/ (Internet)

  • American Lung Association (ALA)
    Conducts programs addressing smoking cessation, prevention, and the protection of nonsmokers' health and provides a variety of educational materials for the public and health professionals. Refer to your phone book for the ALA chapter in your area or contact the national office below for further information.

    American Lung Association
    1740 Broadway
    New York, NY 10019-4274
    (212) 315-8700
    1-800-LUNG-USA
    http://www.lungusa.org (Internet)

  • Group Against Smokers' Pollution (GASP)
    Provides educational and information and referral services concerning the health hazards of secondhand smoke and the establishment of nonsmoking laws and policies.

    Group Against Smokers' Pollution
    P.O. Box 632
    College Park, MD 20741-0632
    (301) 459-4791

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Other Organizations
 


Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at non-Federal links.



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This page last reviewed April 14, 2003

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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