More and more governments and employers are banning or restricting smoking in the workplace. One of the reasons is because research indicates that public smoking is a real danger to non-smokers. Another reason is the effect of smoking on productivity, and the increased health problems faced by smokers covered by company health insurance plans.
Secondhand Smoke
Smoke is expelled into the atmosphere from any burning tobacco product. In addition, smokers exhale smoke that has already made a trip through their lungs, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). If you are in the vicinity of a smoker, you will inhale some of this smoke, which will make you a passive smoker, otherwise known as a secondhand smoker.
Health Hazards
The NCI reports that secondhand smoking causes more than 3,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States alone, as well as at least 46,000 deaths from heart disease. Passive smokers are also exposed to all of the other health hazards faced by active smokers, although to a lesser degree. More than 4,000 chemicals are found in tobacco smoke, among which about 250 have already been identified as hazardous.
Effect on Performance
Smoking has a negative effect even in workplaces where smoking is not allowed, according to economist Petter Lundborg of the Free University of Amsterdam. Most people who have worked with smokers realize that they tend to take frequent smoking breaks. Lundborg reports that the work performance of smokers is generally poorer than non-smokers, and that smokers tend to call in sick about 8 days per year more than smokers. In response to this problem and the higher health care costs incurred by smokers, some companies have forbidden their employees to smoke even off-duty, and have fired smokers for refusing to comply.
Legislation
There is no federal law categorically banning smoking in workplaces (as of 2010). Some states and local governments have banned smoking from all workplaces, whether public or private, reports attorney Amy DelPo. Other states have restricted smoking in public but not private workplaces, or restricted it to separately ventilated areas. State and local governments are particularly likely to target smoking in hospitals and restaurants.
Dissent
Some experts believe that the dangers of passive smoking are being exaggerated by politically motivated crusaders, although even these experts don't deny that passive smoking is generally hazardous. Dr. Michael Siegel, an advocate of bans on workplace smoking, asserts that short-term exposure to secondhand smoke, such as for 30 minutes or so, does not permanently damage the passive smoker. If true, it might suggest that some workplace regulations, such as banning smoking in private offices, might offer negligible benefit to non-smoking co-workers.
