increasing tobacco free workplaces

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke cost 92 billion dollars annually in productivity loss. A new research study conducted by Ohio State University puts the employer cost of tobacco use per employee at $4,056 in estimated lost productivity costs and $2,056 in estimated lost medical costs.  This means that the annual cost to your bottom line is over $6,000 for each employee that smokes.

Getting Started

As Florida businesses navigate the economic uncertainty of the future, it is increasingly important to consider costs, productivity losses, and staffing expenses to stay competitive in the marketplace.

Many businesses like yours are discovering that addressing tobacco use in the workplace can have a profound effect on profitability. About 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but quitting tobacco is tough. Limiting the productivity losses and health care costs associated with tobacco may be as simple as creating an environment that empowers employees to reach their own tobacco free goals.

As a business leader, one of the best tools you have to support the efforts of your employees trying to quit tobacco is to make your business tobacco free through a tobacco free grounds policy.

Why tobacco free instead of smoke-free?

  • Smoke-free workplaces are generally intended to protect non-smokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke, while tobacco free workplace policies aim to provide a supportive work environment where all tobacco users have an easier time quitting or cutting back their tobacco use.
  • Tobacco free policies also protect all tobacco users, not just smokers.
  • Finally, a tobacco free grounds policy eliminates loopholes and confusion,
    simplifying communication and enforcement.
  Tobacco Free Business Badge

A Tobacco-Free Grounds Policy:

Employer Resources for a Healthier and More Cost Effective Business

______________________________________________________

References

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Quitting Smoking Among Adults ---
    United States, 2001--2010. MMWR. 2011;60(44):1513–1519.
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2006). The health consequences of
    involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke: A report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA.
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Smoke-free policies reduce smoking. Accessed June 29, 2013. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_
    smoke/protection/reduce_smoking
    .
  4. Berman M., Crane R., Seiber E., & Munur M. (2013). Estimating the cost of
    a smoking employee. Tobacco Control. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1136/
    tobaccocontrol-2012-050888
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Implementing a tobacco free
    campus initiative in your workplace.