Cost of Smoking to Businesses
THE cost of smoking to businesses in terms of the time lost due to smoking related sick days and time spent taking smoking breaks away from the office is increasing every year. On average 34 million working days are lost every year to British businesses because of sick days taken due to smoking related illnesses. Changes in legislation regarding smoking and smoking in the workplace have had a significant effect on businesses. The UK smoking ban introduced in on 1st July 2007 prohibits smoking in any enclosed space including offices. The introduction of the smoking ban signalled an end to smoking in the workplace. It is now illegal to smoke in the office. If employees wish to smoke they must leave the workplace and go outside to a designated smoking shelter or outdoor space.
Employees who smoke frequently during the working day spend a lot of time away from their desk outside taking a smoking break. On average 100 working hours are lost in Britain every year to smoking breaks. The time spent out of the office taking a smoking break soon adds up over the course of the day – if an employee takes a 15 minute smoking break four times a day that time equates to over a year spent away from their desk over their working life. For employers it is difficult to regulate the amount of smoking breaks employees take. For non-smokers it can be extremely frustrating when colleagues who smoke leave the office regularly to take smoking breaks and they themselves are expected to remain in the office working. Could electronic cigarettes be the solution?
Electronic cigarettes are battery operated vaping devices which work by heating an e-liquid solution inside the device and turning it into a vapour that is then inhaled. E-cigarettes contain much less of the known harmful chemicals that are released in traditional tobacco cigarettes. They do not contain any tobacco and there are no passive smoking dangers to other people. Intellicig are an electronic cigarette company based in Manchester and are one of the leading e-cigarette manufacturers. Only a water based vapour is released from e-cigarettes meaning that if approved by the building they can potentially be used indoors. Could vaping be the answer for businesses? If employees no longer had to leave the office for smoking breaks it would save a lot of time and increase productivity.
E-cigarettes could also improve office morale between smokers and non-smokers. Vaping is still a relatively new concept but as more and more people start using electronic cigarettes it could prove to be an alternative solution for smokers during working hours. If businesses were to encourage vaping as a smoking alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes it could reduce the number of lengthy outdoor smoking breaks taken by employees throughout the day therefore resulting in an increase in the number of hours worked by employees and ultimately an increase in profit for businesses.
