At the end of the day, is it worthwhile to ban smoking on the premises at your company?
It depends on the steps you take to support staff attempting to kick the habit, finds a recent published study . The Journal of Tobacco Policy and Research found that smokers do, truly take more sick days than their non-tobacco use colleagues.
And even when the smoker is in relatively good overall health (i.e., isn’t obese, does not have chronic medical conditions), he or she is still likely to have higher healthcare costs than a comparable non-smoker over the last three years.
Exactly how does a tobacco use ban fit into the cost equation? When the smoker quits, healthcare costs even out.
But if the individuals only refrains from use of tobacco on the job â.” but continues puffing away at home â.” the company sees little to no healthcare cost decrease. The research study found similar patterns for absenteeism.
Bottom line – A workplace tobacco use ban in combo with a tobacco use cessation program gets results. A tobacco use ban alone normally doesn’t.
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