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The health effects of smoking have been widely documented. Smoking can damage the immune system and increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, damaged blood vessels, type 2 diabetes and cancer in most parts of the body, especially the lungs. Additionally, the American Cancer Society estimates that 2 million years of life and $21 billion in income are lost due to smoking-related cancer deaths.
In addition to the above income losses, smoking directly affects the workplace by reducing productivity and endangering the health of non-smoking workers. Fortunately, business leaders can reduce the negative health effects of smoking by taking the initiative to quit smoking. Here’s how you can make changes that will benefit the health and productivity of your employees and your business in the long run.
Why does your company need a smoking cessation program?
Although the connection is not immediately clear, studies show that smoking can negatively affect productivity in the workplace. In the year A study on the ‘Cost of Smoking’ estimates that disease-related productivity losses in the US will reach $184.9 billion by 2022. The causes of these losses include absenteeism, attendance, home productivity and the inability to work due to individual health issues due to smoking.
Smoking can harm the health of non-smoking workers. According to a Yale University study, third-hand smoke, which is left on clothing or left behind, can contaminate the environment that smokers enter. This exposes non-smokers to the equivalent of 1 to 10 cigarettes of secondhand smoke and exposure to hazardous chemical compounds and associated health risks. So when there are smokers in your office, even when they go out for a smoke, they may be putting their co-workers’ health at risk.
To reduce these risks to health and workplace productivity, employers should provide employees with resources to help them quit smoking. Because the process can be difficult and costly, it is important that they receive the proper guidance and support. Here’s what you can do in your own business.
How can you develop a good smoking cessation program?
Partner with smoking cessation experts
One of the best ways to help employees quit smoking is to include smoking cessation programs in your health plan. These programs include several seminars that emphasize the importance of setting expectations and quitting. Here, they focus on the health effects of smoking and the process of quitting.
After that, your staff can be guided through the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). NRT products are smokeless nicotine alternatives that come in different dosages. Every time the person stops smoking, they use a lower dose to reduce nicotine consumption.
Because quitting smoking is not an easy journey, your workplace smoking cessation program can provide a variety of resources to help employees. These may include ways to connect to cutie lines, support groups or personalized counselling. Your program can hold seminars where clients can share tips for managing stress and increasing accountability by seeking support from loved ones. With such programs, you can create a comfortable workplace for quitting.
Implement smoke-free policies
An effective smoke-free policy reduces the ease of smoking, thus encouraging employees to continue the habit. You can start by placing strict restrictions on smoking areas. Decide which areas smokers can use, and make sure they are outside and away from non-smokers in any way.
If your employees choose to make the quit journey, you can encourage them to use non-disruptive NRT products such as nicotine patches and inhalers in the workplace. Nicotine pouches are small, discreet pouches that are attached between the gums and the upper lip. They can also be used at home, the VELO nicotine pouches sold on Prela indicate that these NRTs do not produce smoke or require the user to spit them out. Nicotine inhalers are also appropriate for smoke-free policies. How to inhale with an electronic cigarette can be used by staff, but it’s a device without heat and vapor that delivers a drug into your system. VOC nicotine inhalation can be useful as it provides familiarity by replicating the hand-to-mouth motion of smoking a cigarette.
Once you’ve formulated your smoke-free policies, discuss who these policies will affect, especially if they apply to customers or building workers. You can also refer to the consequences of non-compliance and the timetable for implementing these policies. By planning these policies well and communicating their implementation effectively, employees can be encouraged to quit smoking.
Reduce stress at work
Stress can be one of the biggest triggers for smokers. Therefore, it is important to create a healthy workplace that can prevent them from picking up another cigarette.
Our article on ‘7 Ways Business Owners Can Manage Stress’ shares tips on how professionals can take care of their mental health. These include a good work-life balance, exercise, eating well and building strong personal relationships – all of which employers promote to help employees. You can also promote a good work-life balance by encouraging employees to take leaves or allowing flexible work arrangements such as hybrid or flextime jobs. Make staying healthy easy by offering gym memberships or serving healthy food in the cafeteria. Finally, encourage strong relationships in the workplace by having frequent and honest conversations, holding team-building activities or informal hangouts, and providing healthy opportunities for workplace collaboration.
By maintaining a healthy workplace environment, you can help reduce stress in your employees’ lives and reduce their desire to smoke.
Smoking can affect health and productivity. By understanding how a good workplace smoking cessation program works, you can make your workplace a healthier environment for employees.
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