Smoking costing employers millions

Almost everyone knows that smoking endangers the lives of the smoker and the people they are commonly around. Since smokers are at risk for so many health problems, employers have started to implement policies to do not allow smoking. Other companies won't even hire a person that smokes and several companies will charge them more money if they are smokers. So how much money do smokers cost their employers? Here are a few surprising statistics:

• Health care costs are 40 % higher for smokers
• Most smokers end up paying their employers 20 % more for health care coverage
• Smokers cost their employers $1429 more a year per person in health care costs
• Smokers have a shorter life expectancy, usually 20-25 years shorter from others
• Smokers cost life and health insurance companies $40 billion due to health issues and premature death
• Smokers take 3-4 times the amount of sick leave compared to healthy employees
• Smoking costs about $391 million in damage for smoking-related fires
• Smokers are less-productive than their healthy co-workers about 2 times less-productive

Even though smoking does cause a lot of health issues, people still do it. Smoking is the most-preventable form of death in the United States. About 444,000 premature deaths happen each year due to smoking. Around 30 percent of cancer-related deaths are caused by smoking. Smokers also have 5 times as many heart attacks as non-smokers in their 30s and 40s.

So how does smoking kill people? It restricts oxygen in the blood supply and pumps toxins into the blood stream, causing problems for the heart, brain, and lungs. The normal health complications people have with smoking include the following:

• Emphysema


• Bronchitis


• Lung Disease


• Heart Disease


• Cardiovascular problems


• Strokes


• Vision problems


• Arthritis


• Hearing loss

Employers can significantly reduce their health care costs by promoting a smoke-free office. Investing some money in a smoking cessation program will greatly benefit your company and save you millions of dollars a year in lost production costs and health care costs. To help your employees quit smoking, you may consider hiring a behavior modification therapist to speak with your employees. They will be able to offer tips on how to quit smoking and may suggest alternative treatments to quit smoking besides nicotine gum. The prescription medication Zyban has been used by several people to help them control their cravings for nicotine and the need to smoke.

The only way a person can truly quit smoking is to have determination and a strong willpower to change their lifestyle habits. Within 30 minutes of your last cigarette, your body will automatically start to cleanse the carbon monoxide and other harmful toxins from the bloodstream. People that quit smoking will have an increased immune system; preventing them from getting infections and colds. They also have more energy and a greater lung capacity when they quit smoking.

When it does goes to implementing a policy to establish a smoke-free environment, you should expect some rebuttal from your employees. You should never expect them to cooperate with every policy you pass and you definitely won't get 100 percent success when you implement a smoke-free environment. There will still be some employees that do not care about the additional costs and their health and they will continue to smoke. For these employees, the only way you may be able to reach them is to start charging them more money for health and life insurance. If they have to pay an extra $25 a month for insurance, they may actually consider giving up on smoking.