How much is smoking costing your business.

Around three million employees in the UK are exposed to cigarette smoke while at work. Half of the 5.1 million people in the UK with asthma say that tobacco smoke triggers their asthma. People who are exposed to second-hand smoke for at least six hours a week are 50% more likely to develop asthmatic symptoms, according to the Department of Health.

Young people who smoke take substantially more days off work with illness than their non-smoking colleagues. Compared with people who have never smoked, smokers have higher rates of hospitalisation and lost workdays for a broad range of conditions. The effect is most pronounced in men. In conditions not related to injury or pregnancy, smoking is associated with a 30 per cent increased risk of hospitalisation and a 60 per cent increased risk of lost workdays in men. In women, these figures are 25 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. There is a small increase in risk in both categories for former smokers.

Many employers are aware of the issues surrounding smokers who wish to have cigarette breaks more often than their non-smoking counterparts taking breaks and the impact on their respective working days.

There has been recent press reports on employers who have controversially refused to employ people on the basis that they smoke.

In 1998, ASH obtained a legal opinion suggesting that, in the light of current medical evidence, the law already requires employers to protect their employees from environmental tobacco smoke as it is a ‘serious environmental hazard'. It should be noted that intake of passive smoke in bar staff in the course of their work can be two or three times higher than that arising from living with a partner who smokes. Living with a smoking partner is known to increase the risk of lung cancer by 20-30% and of heart disease by 30%. When considering risk, employers should be aware that the key factor is not whether they in fact knew about the dangers but whether they ought to have known, in the light of knowledge available at the time. This is the concept of “guilty knowledge”. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 . Although this remains untested in the courts, employers should be aware of the strength of this argument.

Quitting smoking is probably the greatest way your employee can add value to their life and as a result provide for a much better working environment.

Studies have shown that workers value their job more if they feel their employer cares about them, than if they receive a pay increase. As an employer you can help them by registering with us. Entitling your employee to discount of 10% of the therapy charges.

To register with us please email biz@smokingrelief.co.uk with the name, address of your business and the number of employees in your organisation who smoke. We will send you a registration form by return.