Setting rules about smoking

When it comes to smoking, employers need to be aggressive to get their employees to quit smoking. Smoking causes problems for practically everyone, especially people that are exposed to second-hand smoke. Normally people that smoke are likely to die prematurely because smoking leads to heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and several other medical problems. In the United States, almost every state has rules and regulations on smoking. Most states do not allow smoking in public buildings and people must be at least 20 feet away from a building if they are going to smoke.

Employers need to have clear rules about smoking so they don't have to deal with problems from their employees. Smoking rules should be given to each employee at the time they are hired. If you make adjustments to your smoking policy, it must be given to all of your staff members. Make sure the policy is easy to access, like in a brochure and given to each of your staff members individually.

Several employers have been cracking down on smoking since the American Lung Association reported that smoking causes about 3,400 deaths due to exposure from second-hand smoke. Sadly, co-workers are 17 percent more likely to develop lung disease or some type of cancer because of their exposure to second-hand smoke.

If employers want their employees to go smoke-free, they need to provide them with an incentive. Quitting smoking for the health benefit isn't always enough to inspire some people. Financial incentives are always beneficial for people that want to quit smoking. A lot of companies will reward them each month they remain smoke-free or they may reward them for a specific amount of time when they are smoke-free (like 6 months or a year).

Smoking will increase your healthcare costs and it will also cost you money in lost productivity. The American Lung Association has also found that second-hand smoke also costs employers around $5 billion in indirect costs. Workers can claim unemployment or disability due to smoking. Unemployment and disability costs will cost your company more money. If you have a policy on smoking and do everything in your power to prevent smoking, you won't need to worry about the additional costs you could have as a result of employees that smoke.

Companies that do not establish smoke-free environments will spend thousands of dollars to prevent their other staff member from exposure to second-hand smoke. They will also need to deal with other problems inside the office like cleaning and maintenance. Offices that have smoking employees spend more money to have proper ventilation so the smell of smoke doesn't bother other employees and customers. Employees with asthma are extremely susceptible to the smell of smoke because it can easily trigger an asthma attack.

Since cigarette smoke also sticks to fabrics, your company will spend more money cleaning carpets and upholstery. You may even need to replace some of the chairs and other things in the office that have been used by smoking employees.

If you have company cars, make sure your employees know they are not to be smoked in. Cigarette smoke will damage the interior of the car and make it difficult to sell, at least for a decent profit. If the employees know the rules about smoking before they are hired, they are less-likely to violate them.

Encourage your staff members to quit smoking by setting a good example. If you are a smoker, now is the time to quit and let your staff members see your success. You can then be a role model for them when they decide to quit smoking.