SMOKING AND THE WORKPLACE
Employers in Camden can do their bit to raise awareness of stop smoking services and help their employee's to access to stop smoking services.
Lots of employers and employees in Camden have already benefitted from this service, including Parcel force, Royal Mail, The Economist Group, Parliament Hill School, Camden PCT and Camden Council amongst others. We have also worked with local mini cab companies and restaurants to support their staff to quit smoking.
People working in Camden can be referred to the service or, can have on-site clinics (where there are a sufficient number of smokers wanting to quit). Because more people in routine and manual occupations smoke, we are particularly interested in working with these types of businesses.
We provide the following FREE services to employers in Camden:
• Information/advisory service and promotional smokefree resources
• Information and advisory service at staff wellbeing events
• Seminars on the best way to quit smoking in Camden
• Referral routes into services
• Advice and information for employers on smokefree legislation and smoking related litter
• On-site workplace clinics (where there is sufficient demand)
Information for Employers: Why you should support your employees to stop smoking
Benefits for your organisation:
• Improved productivity: A smoker who smokes 5 cigarettes during the working day will spend the equivalent of 28 working days each year smoking
• Reduced sick leave: Smokers will take 33 hrs more sick than non-smokers each year
• Your employees make a positive lifestyle change: 70% of smokers want to quit, but only 2-3% manage to do it without help each year. Quitting smoking is the most important thing anyone can do to improve their life expectancy and health.
• Improved Corporate Social Responsibility profile: shows potential customers and partners your organisation values it’s employees
• Improved staff relations: smokers might be seen as having an unfair advantage over non-smokers since they get extra break time for smoking. On average a smoker will take the equivalent of an extra 5.5 weeks of annual leave for smoking breaks.
• Reduced cigarette litter outside of your premises: You could be held responsible for any cigarette litter related to your employees
• Reduces risk of non-compliance with legislation: The following links will give you more information about what is recommended for workplaces.
- National Institute of Clinical Excellence. Workplace Interventions to help employees stop smoking. 2007 http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf/PHI005QuickRefGuide.pdf
Smokefree England: Business and employers checklist - http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/what-do-i-do/business.html
- www.ash.org.uk