HR supports doctors in call for workplace smoking ban

While the NHS launches a new shocking anti-smoking campaign and doctors deliver letters calling on the Prime Minister to ban smoking in all workplaces to 10 Downing Street, a poll of HR professionals suggests that the majority are in favour of an all-out ban on smoking in public places to help protect staff.

Nearly three-quarters of the 203 professionals polled on www.hrgateway.com (HR Gateway) voted for smoke-free workplaces, while the remaining 29% didnít want to see a blanket ban. The finding was welcomed by ASH, the anti-smoking
lobbyists:

ëThis is absolutely great news and part of a growing trend,í ASHís Amanda Sandford said. ëBanning smoking means healthier staff which has a direct positive impact on absence levels.

ëThere is also a knock-on effect where smokers tend to try giving up because of the policy. This means that the workforce tends to get healthier if firms employ smoking bans which benefits staff, customers and employers,í she said.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) also welcomed the results. There is now enough evidence to suggest that banning smoking will not negatively effect business but will badly effect workers, it said:

ëWe want to see a ban in all workplaces including pubs and restaurants. Passive smoking is deadly for employees and so the Government should follow Ireland and implement a ban, said the TUC.

Vanessa Stebbings of HR Gateway Consulting (HRGC) agrees. All employees have the right to work in a comfortable environment, but as well as health, fairness is also a major issue to be taken into account:

ëFor those employees taking cigarette breaks, the issue of hours often arises and decisions need to be made prior to any policy implementation, about how the working time lost will be redressed.

ëIn an attempt to create balance the public sector has commonly adopted an increase in the hours of smokers to cover the time lost to smoke breaks. Private sector employers, on the other hand, have often seen fit to address the balance through non-smoking employees, by giving time off in lieu.

ëWhilst health remains at the forefront of this policy success can be hampered where the wider implications are ignored,í she said.